Paris (AFP)
Welcomed in 2018 with drums and trumpets, Mediapro's monumental offer for Ligue 1 TV rights has turned into a "fiasco": French football will end the contract with its main broadcaster, ushering in an era of economic uncertainty for French footballers. clubs.
The failure of the Sino-Spanish group has become more and more obvious over unpaid installments, in October and then in December.
Or around 325 million euros not paid to the Professional Football League (LFP) by Mediapro, the latter citing the health crisis.
But after long weeks of negotiations, the League and its broadcaster acted on the night of Thursday to Friday to a memorandum of understanding, presented in the morning to the board of directors of the LFP, according to a source with knowledge of the negotiations.
This protocol, which must be approved between December 17 and 22 by the commercial court of Nanterre, involves the withdrawal of Mediapro in exchange for the promise that the League will not sue it subsequently, it is indicated. from the same source.
The group led by Catalan Jaume Roures will pay him 100 million euros in compensation, 36 of which will be deferred to 2021.
Contacted, Mediapro did not wish to comment, but the Téléfoot channel, created ad hoc by the Catalan group this summer, told AFP that it will continue to broadcast Ligue 1 "at least until 23 December".
According to the terms of the agreement detailed by a source close to the negotiations, it is even ready to broadcast until January 31, 2021, pending future broadcasters, who will be able to submit offers as soon as the protocol is approved by the court.
Thus, the Saint-Etienne - Angers match on Friday evening (9 p.m.), like the PSG-Lyon shock on Sunday (9 p.m.), were to be broadcast as planned on this channel.
- "Monumental blow" -
Friday morning, Téléfoot employees were "reunited" by videoconference, a member of the editorial staff told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The Managing Director of Mediapro Julien "Bergeaud told us, very moved and even on the verge of tears, that it was over".
"The blow is monumental", adds this journalist.
This decision raises many questions.
Who will be the future broadcaster?
If the historic partner of French football, Canal +, were to return to the game, under what financial conditions?
What future for employees and in particular the editorial staff of Téléfoot made up of around fifty journalists?
Will subscribers be able to get reimbursed?
While waiting for answers, the financial situation of the clubs, which risk having to draw a line on several hundreds of millions of euros per year, remains alarming: "It is the double penalty" after the anticipated end of the previous season for cause of health crisis, commented Lyon coach Rudi Garcia.
In an interview with AFP, Sylvain Kastendeuch, co-president of the players' union UNFP, said that French football was "at a crossroads", saying he was ready to discuss player salaries "so that the clubs survive ".
The Téléfoot journalist contacted by AFP goes further: "We will talk about it in thirty years as the biggest fiasco in the history of television, the biggest fiasco in the history of the PAF (French audiovisual landscape, Editor's note) and French football ".
- Looks on Canal + -
A predictable fiasco?
When the contract of more than 800 million euros per year (out of a record total of 1.153 billion for the L1) was signed by Mediapro, a newcomer in France, many experts had already expressed doubts about its viability.
And in October, Roures had indicated that Téléfoot, which has never been able to find a distribution agreement with Canal +, had 600,000 subscribers.
Far from the objective of 3.5 million necessary to make the project profitable ...
Recently, Jean-Michel Blanquer, the Minister of Education and Sports, had not concealed the criticisms at the highest summit of the State: "We cannot in business life take risks of this type and then call the state like a firefighter. "
All eyes will now turn to Canal +, the historic broadcaster of the French Championship which remains discreet on the matter and has already indicated via his boss Maxime Saada that he would not reinvest "at a loss" in football.
This gives rise to fear of a discount of several hundred million euros per year.
A sharp drop that may be difficult to cash for many clubs already weakened by the health crisis and empty stadiums.
Asked by AFP, Canal + did not follow up.
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