Paris (AFP)

The war for TV rights in French football is starting again: already in conflict with the Professional Football League (LFP) over this season's contract, the main broadcaster of Ligue 1, Mediapro, is now turning to Canal +, which he accuses of wanting to oust him from the market.

While all eyes have been focused in recent days on the encrypted channel, as a potential savior of an L1 worried about her television income, the case has taken a new judicial turn.

The Sino-Spanish group Mediapro, holder of 80% of the matches, indeed filed a summons last week with the Paris commercial court to ask Canal +, holder of the remaining 20%, for damages, a-t- we learned from a source with knowledge of the file.

According to this same source, who requested anonymity, Mediapro accuses Canal of "abuse of a dominant position" and "abusive and unfair practices".

At the heart of the conflict: the call for tenders for TV rights for the period 2020-2024, won by Mediapro for a record amount (780 M EUR per season paid by Mediapro for Ligue 1, out of a total of 1.153 billion per season).

This amount had made Canal + squeak, the channel run by Maxime Saada hammering that Mediapro had overvalued the value of Ligue 1.

- Dispute over distribution -

The Catalan group considers itself aggrieved by the position adopted by Canal + on this subject, as well as in the negotiations started to try to seal a distribution agreement with the encrypted channel.

While partnerships have been entered into with the four main operators (Free, Bouygues, Orange, SFR), Mediapro, a newcomer to the French market, has in fact never reached an agreement for the distribution of its Téléfoot channel through the platforms. of Canal +.

If negotiations have been started, it is estimated on the side of Mediapro that Canal + has made an unacceptable offer in terms of exposure to its subscriber base in particular.

On the side of the encrypted channel, which did not wish to comment on Thursday, on the contrary, in September it was invoked an "inequality of treatment" imposed by Mediapro on the Vivendi group channel, the latter having imposed according to Canal + " impossible "and" unrealistic "conditions.

Result: the war rages between the two groups, with two contradictory procedures now because Canal + had already itself sued Mediapro at the end of September on this same file of the distribution of Téléfoot, with the commercial court of Nanterre.

Mediapro's strategy may raise questions, as the broadcaster has repeatedly repeated how much it needs Canal's subscriber base to try to eventually approach the 3.5 million subscribers necessary to make its contract profitable at 780. million euros per year for L1.

However, at the end of October, the group leader Jaume Roures announced a figure of 600,000 subscribers for his Téléfoot channel, far from his long-term objectives.

- Uncertain conciliation -

"It's a hell of a bet. It still looks like a hard-pressed structure that tries everything for everything. But it is especially catastrophic for the subscribers", was astonished to AFP a regular of the instances.

This makes the conciliation process currently underway between Mediapro and the League all the more complex, a procedure initiated by the Catalan group since October 19 with the aim of reducing the bill for this 2020-21 season disrupted by the pandemic.

The objective is now to reach a solution as soon as possible, while December 5, the date of the next payment due by Mediapro, is approaching.

After having paid its first payment to the League in August, Mediapro indeed refused to pay the 172 million euros expected in October, forcing the LFP to borrow urgently to pay its worried clubs.

Between a Mediapro group still determined to keep its rights, a League in an emergency to finance its clubs, and a Canal + group willing to prepare a discount offer in the event of termination of the contract according to sources familiar with the matter, the outcome of the conflict remains very uncertain ...

© 2020 AFP