On Friday, the Competition Authority rejected an appeal filed by Canal + against the terms of reassignment of Ligue 1 TV rights. The encrypted channel had filed this appeal for "abuse of a dominant position" against the decision of the LFP not to remit at stake than the lots abandoned by the broadcaster Mediapro, without including lot 3 held by Canal +.
The Competition Authority on Friday rejected an appeal by Canal + against the terms of reassignment of Ligue 1 TV rights, a crucial decision that clears the legal horizon for an expected agreement between the encrypted channel and the Professional Football League (LFP).
After the withdrawal of the defective broadcaster Mediapro during the season, the Vivendi group channel had filed an appeal for "abuse of a dominant position" against the decision of the LFP to only put into play the lots abandoned by the Sino-Spanish group, without including lot 3 held by Canal +.
Canal + called for a global call for tenders
The encrypted channel, which paid 330 million euros for the two matches of each day planned in this lot, estimated its value now overvalued and called for a global tender.
The LFP finally won its case, both before the commercial court in March, even if Canal + announced that it wanted to appeal, and before the Competition Authority on Friday.
"At the end of its examination, the Authority rejected the referral to the merits of (Canal +) and the request for provisional measures which was associated with it, considering that they were not accompanied by sufficiently convincing elements", he said. -she writes in a press release.
According to this decision, the LFP was within its rights by launching its partial call for tenders in early February, covering 80% of L1 and L2 and ultimately unsuccessful, then opting since then for direct negotiations with interested broadcasters.
Towards an agreement with Canal and beIN Sports?
The rejection of the appeal of Canal + therefore clears the legal horizon of French football by making possible an agreement by mutual agreement. According to sources close to the negotiations, this decision could accelerate an agreement with Canal + and beIN Sports, hoped for in the coming hours in the face of the emergency in which the L1 finds itself: the clubs are currently without a broadcaster within two months. of the resumption of the 2021-2022 season in early August and must present a consistent budget on June 14 to the DNCG.
Domestic TV rights, initially expected at 1.217 billion euros per year for L1 and L2, fell, for the 2020-2021 season, to around 683 million euros after the failure of Mediapro and the closure of its ephemeral channel. Telefoot. And Maxime Saada, boss of Canal +, said he expected negotiations around an overall annual figure "close to previous cycles", namely an average of 650 million EUR per year.