The call for tenders for the resale of 80% of the rights to Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 turned out to be unsuccessful on Monday, with reserve prices not being reached by the new arrivals.
The LFP will now try to negotiate over-the-counter with the various broadcasters, such as Canal +, which remains in ambush.
A big blow for the Professional Football League.
The call for tenders which concluded on Monday did not satisfy the LFP.
She hoped to resell the 80% of Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 broadcasting rights that she had recovered from Mediapro.
But she received two bad news.
First, neither Canal + nor beIN Sports have applied.
Then, none of the reserve prices were reached for the six lots that it had put up for sale.
Amazon, Discovery and the UK streaming service DAZN did well, but their offerings were too low.
The League could have accepted them despite everything, it had given itself this option by organizing the call for tenders, but it did not wish to do so.
"48 hours to survive"
What will the LFP do?
She now gives herself 48 hours to decide what to do after this missed meeting.
This is also how
L'Équipe
titled its edition of the day, with this title that freezes all of French football: "48 hours to survive".
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The League now has several options.
The failure of the call for tenders authorizes him to enter into negotiations by mutual agreement.
She can discuss with groups that have positioned themselves, but also with others, starting with Canal +.
It could also decide to find a temporary solution until the end of the season, and launch a new call for tenders, this time for the entire championship for the coming seasons.
A "small risk zone"
Uncertainty hovers, then, but who is in a strong position?
"The scenario is not unfavorable to Canal + which has been campaigning for a long time for a full call for tenders," recalls Christophe Lepetit, sports economist.
"With this unsuccessful call for tenders, Canal + remains in a strong position to negotiate by mutual agreement with the LFP. The fact that DAZN and Amazon have expressed their interest may also create a small area of risk and discomfort for Canal + which may, in a scenario where the LFP would know how to negotiate skillfully, see the rights of Ligue 1 escape it. "
Pending an end to the crisis, the Téléfoot channel of Mediapro could continue to broadcast the matches, starting with the OM-PSG Classic next Sunday.
On Monday, M6 again applied to broadcast it on its antenna, as the president of the media group, Nicolas de Tavernost wrote on Twitter.