Streaming platform DAZN and Qatari-owned beIN Sports are reported to have acquired the TV rights to French football’s Ligue 1.
The last-minute deal was signed less than six weeks before the start of the French season with the total financial commitment close to €500m annually for domestic broadcast rights.
The Financial Times reported that DAZN will pay €400m a year for the rights to show the majority of Ligue 1 matches, while beIN will spend €100m for one game a week. beIN is paying more per game because its package includes the most sought-after fixtures.
The FT said the €500m is well below the €1bn originally targeted by the Ligue de Football Professionnel, and down from the €582mn received during the previous deal.
“Despite an incredible amount of work by (LFP chair) Vincent Labrune and several other chairmen, including myself, we were at an impasse, given the urgency of the situation,” Jean-Pierre Caillot, chairman of Reims and chair of the Ligue 1 board, told the AFP news agency.
“We had to find the best solution for the clubs in terms of exposure and cash flow. Finding and securing this agreement with DAZN and beIN Sports is the solution that, after several hours of discussions, the Ligue 1 chairmen were virtually unanimously in favour of.
“It’s obviously not the result we’d imagined at the outset, but it means that the future is not compromised,” added Caillot.
The 2024-25 Ligue 1 season will begin on August 16.
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