Lyon (AFP)

Jean-Michel Aulas wants to rethink the broadcasting of Ligue 1: faced with "concern" about the solvency of the broadcaster Mediapro, the president of Lyon on Wednesday called on French football to "innovate", citing the content giants as an example online, like Netflix or Spotify.

Mediapro, holder of most of the TV broadcasting rights of Ligue 1 and Ligue 2, has engaged in a standoff with French football authorities by demanding to renegotiate downward its record contract, moreover of 800 M EUR per season.

The Professional League (LFP) refused him a delay in payment.

The Sino-Spanish group led by Jaume Roures did not honor on October 5 a deadline estimated at 172 M EUR according to L'Equipe, plunging into concern the professional clubs, whose TV rights are the main source of income (36 % for L1 in 2018-19 according to the DNCG, financial policeman of French football).

And doubts are emerging more and more about the viability of the Mediapro project, which hastily launched the Téléfoot channel to broadcast the Championship, but according to several experts wanted to resell the rights to make a profit, which the group denies.

"Not to be worried would be to make a mistake, professional misconduct," said Aulas on the sidelines of a press conference on access to employment, saying he feared for the finances of certain French clubs who "anticipated the future by trying (...) to consume or use this investment too early ".

- Electroshock -

"There have been in the past a number of excesses in terms of development on recruitment, transfers or even clubs that have perhaps lived a little above their potential and recurring standard of living," said analyzed the Lyonnais.

A continuation of the standoff could therefore pose serious cash flow problems for clubs, and a downward revision of TV rights would put them in difficulty, in particular to pay their players.

According to L'Equipe, a Board of Directors of the LFP is scheduled for Thursday morning (10:30 am) to discuss a possible emergency loan likely to cover the scheduled TV rights payments.

For Aulas, this electroshock should push French football to turn to new types of broadcasters like the giants of online content like Netflix and the "GAFA" (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon).

"The world is changing. The digital disruption is immense and today, whether it is the + GAFA + or other operators appearing in cinema or music, can necessarily provide a number of solutions," said Jean-Michel Aulas.

- "You need only one front door" -

"When we watch Netflix or Spotify, we see that there are indeed other ways of apprehending and turning towards the masses (...) Perhaps there is material, with this difficulty on Mediapro , to think about a future, for French football on TV rights, which is more in relation to the expectations of the supporters ", judged the president of Lyon, who imagines a single online portal as a way of access to the matches, now split between different broadcasters, on different platforms.

"You need a single gateway because simplicity is often in digital matters one of the keys to success and distribution. And, in terms of + pricing + (pricing policy, Editor's note), bring things forward", he added, alluding to the possible purchase of single matches.

Netflix or Spotify offer an online catalog of pay-per-view series, films and songs, while the economic model of French sports channels (Téléfoot, Canal +, BeIn Sports, RMC Sport) is based more on subscriptions to watch matches live. .

The giant Amazon has started to make inroads into the TV rights market, notably by acquiring rights to matches of the English Premier League and the North American NFL (American football).

© 2020 AFP