The historical partner of French football first renounced the call for tenders, whose conditions "have finished convincing us that your only objective was to exclude Canal + and favor Amazon," wrote Maxime Saada, the chairman of the board of the Canal+ group, in a letter revealed by L'Equipe.

Solicited all day and initially mute, the leaders of the Professional Football League ended up responding at the end of the day in a statement where they "regret(s)" the decision of Canal + and denounce "affirmations or insinuations (...) of particular gravity".

This remark points to the most scathing passage of the letter of the N.1 of Canal +, which envisages that the LFP aims at "the failure" of its process to "free itself from the legal constraint of a call for applications in order to be able to negotiate once again directly and in perfectly opaque conditions the allocation of rights".

Maxime Saada, Chairman of the Executive Board of the Canal+ Group? APRIL 25, 2023 0 paris © alain jocard / afp/Archives

"Our relations with the LFP have deteriorated sharply over the years," writes Saada, who accuses the League of having leaked in L'Équipe the amounts proposed by Canal for the call for tenders in June 2021. "The confidentiality thus flouted has allowed Amazon" to obtain "80% of the matches at a low price," he continues, accusing the League: "You have not ceased to penalize Canal +."

Snag for the billion-dollar plan

The encrypted channel felt aggrieved after the bankruptcy of the broadcaster Mediapro in October 2020 because it estimated that its lot of two matches per day, paid 332 million euros, was now overvalued compared to what Prime Video paid for the other eight matches (250 million euros) - now seven - bought from the failing Spanish company.

The L1 having gone from 20 to 18 clubs this summer, there are now nine matches per day and no longer ten.

In its statement, the LFP certifies "maximum transparency to all candidates" and "the integrity of the process". Above all, she rebels against Canal's methods and "regrets (...) the process of publicly disclosing the terms of this letter, in order to undermine the marketing process as well as the interests of the LFP".

the war between Canal+ and the LFP resumed on Monday with the announcement by the encrypted channel that it would not participate in the auction for the broadcast of French © football FRANCK FIFE / AFP / Archives

This open-air fight is a first hitch in the billion-euro plan thought by Vincent Labrune. The president of the LFP is targeting this annual sum for TV rights for the period 2024-2029, whose auction must take place on October 17.

It loses one of its main potential bidders, put off in particular by a starting price set at 800 million euros the season: 530 M EUR for the main lot, with three matches per day including the first two posters, and 270 M EUR for the other six matches.

"Not a surprise"

The withdrawal of Canal from the tender "is not a surprise" for the consultant of the television rights of the sport, Pierre Maës, interviewed by AFP. "That Canal does not make an offer equal to or greater than 530 million euros is in line with what he has always said."

The auction system unveiled by the LFP on September 12 "is extremely risky. The Leagues normally make a reserve price below which they do not sell, and whether they communicate or not," adds the Belgian economist.

For him, "with such high prices, there is a good chance that the leaders of the LFP will find themselves alone on October 17," he continues.

"Canal does not say: +I am not interested+, but: +I will not participate in the call for tenders+ at this price," adds Maës.

This is the second time that the pay-TV channel, partner of the France Championship since its launch in 1984, does not participate in a tender for the L1.

Canal+ had already shunned the one on the re-allocation of the lot of Mediapro, failing in October 2020, and finally fell to Prime Video, the channel of Amazon © Josep Lago / AFP / Archives

It had already shunned the one on the re-allocation of the lot of Mediapro, failing in October 2020, and finally fell to Prime Video, the Amazon channel.

It remains for Canal a possibility to broadcast L1 the next five seasons through its new agreement with DAZN, a sports streaming platform that has expressed interest in the tender.

Despite the withdrawal of its historical partner, the LFP still counts on beIN Sports, holder of the rights of the two matches that Canal broadcasts following a partnership between them, Prime Video, the Amazon channel, which broadcasts the other eight matches or possible new players, such as Apple, which has offered the North American Championship (MLS) for ten seasons, to reach the dream billion.

© 2023 AFP