Paris (AFP)
The call for tenders for the reallocation of most of the television rights to Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 proved unsuccessful, announced on Monday the president of the players' union, Philippe Piat, member of the board of directors of the LFP, aggravating the crisis in French football.
From now on, negotiations will be voluntary to allocate the rights, said Piat, member of the steering committee of the call for tenders.
"The candidates' offers were lower than the reserve prices, end of the match," said the boss of the UNFP (National Union of Professional Footballers) leaving the headquarters of the Professional Football League (LFP).
"I cannot answer you but the situation is interesting", commented for his part the president of Lyon, Jean-Michel Aulas, also member of the steering committee.
He wanted to be positive, with a view to over-the-counter discussions, answering "of course" to the question: Are there any broadcasters likely to interest you?
The fact remains that this unsuccessful call for tenders is a further blow to professional clubs, which already anticipate losses of 1.3 billion euros at the end of the season, between the pandemic and the crisis in TV rights ...
The situation remains very uncertain, and we still do not know who will broadcast the Classic Marseille-Paris SG scheduled for Sunday (9:00 p.m.) at the Stade Vélodrome.
Neither Canal +, holder of the remaining 20% (i.e. 2 L1 matches per day), nor beIN Sports, which ceded these rights to it, applied for the new call for tenders put in place quickly by the LFP to compensate the failure of Mediapro, which no longer ensured its payments for the 80% of the TV rights in Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 that it held.
The Sino-Spanish group was to pay EUR 780 million per year to broadcast L1 on its Téléfoot channel.
Canal + considers "overvalued" to pay 330 million euros per year for its two matches per day and wanted a full tender, not just on the lots abandoned by Mediapro.
The encrypted channel, in disagreement with the LFP, has also filed an appeal before the Paris Commercial Court.
A hearing is scheduled for February 19.
The Competition Authority was also seized by Canal +.
© 2021 AFP