Paris (AFP)

Canal + and French football reached an unexpected agreement Thursday for the broadcast of Ligue 1 until the end of the season, relieving the sector in the short term without however erasing the drastic losses seen by the clubs after an unprecedented audiovisual crisis.

Ligue 1 is saved, at least for now!

From next February 12, for the 25th day, and until the end of the 2020-21 season, the French football broadcaster will be called Canal +.

Vivendi's subsidiary, uncompromising with the Professional Football League (LFP) in recent weeks, has finally made a gesture towards the clubs, agreeing to buy the TV rights to L1 and Ligue 2 abandoned in December by the failing broadcaster Mediapro at a price ridiculous.

According to several sources with knowledge of the case, Canal + has thus agreed to pay an allowance of 35 million euros to the LFP, in exchange for the exclusive exploitation of all the matches of Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 released by Mediapro and remaining to be played until the month of June (13 days of the Championship).

These 35 million euros are in addition to the 332 million per year already promised by the encrypted channel for the remaining 20% ​​of Ligue 1, which it broadcasts.

Canal + had indicated in recent weeks to want to return these matches for a global call for tenders, leaving even more catastrophic losses for the clubs ... But this windfall was finally secured through the agreement found on Thursday.

- A season at 650 million -

The clubs no longer have to worry about their broadcaster until June ... But this agreement will not instantly resolve the crisis which has affected them for many months: according to these same sources familiar with the matter, the LFP thus presented to the board of directors on Thursday a 49% drop in club television revenues for the 2020-2021 season in Ligue 1, a drop of 40% for Ligue 2.

In the end, in domestic rights, the clubs will have received this season a little more than 650 M EUR, instead of the 1.217 billion initially hoped for, L1 and L2 included.

This is a huge turnaround for French football, in conflict in recent weeks with its former historic broadcaster who took him to court on the terms of the re-allocation of TV rights.

Assignments that Canal + does not plan, a priori, to withdraw, according to a source close to the file.

This agreement will sign for good the departure of Mediapro from the market, with the closure of its Téléfoot channel, which must broadcast until the end of the 24th day, Sunday.

The Canal + group "will have exclusive audiovisual rights, live and in full every day," said the League in its press release.

The Sino-Spanish broadcaster signed a sensational entry into the French market in 2018, by promising more than 800 million euros per year to French football against 80% of the L1 and L2, including the 10 best posters of the elite.

But he had shown himself unable to meet his deadlines in the fall, arguing the health crisis, and had negotiated his withdrawal in December.

The long road to the rescue of French football, however, has only just begun.

The agreement only runs until the end of the season: it will then be necessary to renegotiate the marketing of the rights for the next seasons, with the various operators concerned.

But no new call for tenders is planned, according to several sources.

On Monday, three main groups made an offer to take over all or part of the vacant rights, via a market consultation launched by the League: the online commerce giant Amazon, the sports streaming platform DAZN and the Discovery group, parent company of Eurosport.

But their proposals were not sufficient and the market consultation, boycotted by Canal + and beIN Sports, was declared unsuccessful.

Bidders will now have to wait until the end of the season to hope to recover matches.

© 2021 AFP