“We must recognize that we have a younger audience, so scheduling the matches in the evening is perhaps not the best time, particularly if the children have school the next day.” This quote from Baroness Sue Campbell, director of women’s football at the English federation, on July 5, clearly did not inspire the decision-makers of the D1 Arkema programming. While the English championship is developing at high speed and its matches, all in the afternoon, attract an average of 7,000 spectators (compared to 841 in France last season), the French championship schedules its best matches on Friday and Sunday evening at 9 p.m. A schedule which does not convince a more family audience than that of men’s football, and places the D1 in competition with Ligue 1.
“For home matches, we averaged around a hundred last season. This season, there are around fifty.” A decrease in the number of supporters in the stands is what Coralie Soyer, secretary of the OL Ang’elles section, which supports Olympique Lyonnais, observes. The Rhone club, 16 times French champion, subscribes to so-called “premium” matches, scheduled at 9 p.m. this season. “We have quite a few family memberships. And when the girls play their big matches at Groupama Stadium, the club invites football schools. But matches at 9 p.m., for families, it’s inconceivable when the children have school the next day, and when the temperatures drop, comments Coralie Soyer. I think that this programming is an obstacle to public loyalty in the stadiums”.
And if two matches per championship day are scheduled for 9 p.m., the other four are played on Saturday afternoon, at 2:30 p.m. or 3 p.m. “The little ones often have tournaments at that time, so they can’t come to the stadium. 10 years ago, we played on Sunday afternoons, and the little ones could come with their parents. Or on Saturday but a little later, that way they played before.”argues Laëtitia Philippe, Le Havre goalkeeper.
Mixed results on attendances
In addition to the more family-friendly fringe of the stands, other supporters also complain about matches at 9 p.m., which prevent them from following their club on the road. “To mobilize members to travel to Le Havre on a Friday evening, it was complicated, because it took a day. In general there can be around twenty of us, and here we found ourselves at 5 or 6″continues Coralie Soyer.
“There are people who put themselves in difficulty, coming home on Monday morning at 5 a.m. to be at work at 8 a.m., so that there are enough of us to organize the trip. We even make trips at a loss economically.”
Coralie Soyer, secretary of OL Ang’ellesat franceinfo: sport
In terms of attendances communicated by certain clubs, the results are mixed. Dijon hosted PSG on a Sunday at 9 p.m. in front of 1,200 people, despite a two-euro ticketing operation, compared to 2,330 people last season, on a Sunday at 2:45 p.m. The Girondines de Bordeaux, for their part, hosted the Parisiennes in front of 2,463 spectators on a Sunday at 9 p.m., compared to 1,508 last season, on a Sunday at 2 p.m. A positive count, but the difference in stadium distorts the comparison: the match, this season, took place at the Chaban-Delmas stadium, larger and located near the center of Bordeaux, while it had taken place at the Sainte -Germaine du Bouscat, in the Bordeaux suburbs, last season.
The Stade de Reims hosted Lyon on a Sunday evening at 9 p.m. in the presence of 1,831 spectators. This is more than last season (1,311 for the same match, on a Sunday at 12:45 p.m.), but the men’s section played the same day at 3 p.m. in Toulouse, and supporters therefore made the trip to Occitanie.
A subscription required to watch the two “premium” matches
This competition between D1 Arkema and Ligue 1 matches is found this season, with matches in the men’s championship on Friday and Sunday evening. A situation which sometimes places matches between two teams from the same club at the same time, forcing supporters to make a choice between the two sections. “Being in competition with Ligue 1 is not ideal”recognized Sonia Bompastor, the Lyon coach, after her team’s trip to Paris. “We know very well that even the best D1 Arkema poster cannot compete with a Ligue 1 poster. And I very much doubt that people will subscribe to Canal+ to see the best D1 matches,” deplores Laëtitia Philippe. Contacted, Canal+, co-broadcaster of the two matches in prime time with Dazn, did not communicate the audiences it achieves for these matches at 9 p.m.
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The encrypted channel assures that it did not choose these times and that they had been included by the French Football Federation (FFF) in its call for tenders for TV rights for women’s football. However, they do not appear in the championship regulations, article 15 of which specifies that“in D1 Arkema, matches generally take place on Saturdays at 2:30 p.m.”. The broadcaster, which is offering three unencrypted matches this season, is instead praising its coverage of the championship, beyond the matches, with summaries in Canal Football Club and a new match debrief program on Sundays. “We cannot on the one hand complain that women’s sport is not sufficiently publicized and broadcast in prime time, and then complain when it is scheduled at 9 p.m. or broadcast for free online“tempers Magali Tezenas du Montcel, general director of Sporsora, an organization specializing in the development of the sports economy.
“Last season, all the matches were on Canal+ and the times varied depending on the weekend. We have more stability, readability and free access this season”defends Gilles Galinier, communications director for Arkema, the sponsor of the championship. “It is also preferable to receive TV rights from Canal+, which will help the championships and clubs in their economic model, rather than offering a championship for free broadcast but with lower TV rights” adds Magali Tezenas from Montcel. However, even the meetings scheduled in the afternoon and broadcast free online on Dailymotion do not seem to satisfy spectators.
“For me, the championship is less well broadcast than before… My parents watch and sometimes the sun is in front so we can’t see half of the field, and when it rains, there are drops on the only camera, deplores Laëtitia Philippe. The federation, between what they say, what they really do and what comes out of it, it is not at all an effect of promoting women’s football. When contacted, the FFF did not respond to our requests. The TV rights contract signed last June extends until 2029.