1984-1999: Canal+ offers itself exclusivity

1984 was a crucial year. Until then, Division 1 was listened to on the radio more than it was watched on television. But Canal+, the first encrypted channel launched in the landscape, on November 4, seizes the exclusive rights of the France football championship. The first private channel in the history of French television becomes THE football channel and will broadcast one match per day, on Sunday evening, for the equivalent of 800,000 euros per season initially.

TF1 is satisfied with match summaries on Sunday morning in its show Téléfoot, which gradually becomes the mass of football.

1999-2004: Canal-TPS, start of bidding

"The monopoly could not last," admits the CEO of Canal +, Pierre Lescure, after a board of directors of the League (then National Football League, LNF) in June 1999. At the dawn of the new millennium, the encrypted channel must share the cake with a newcomer: the satellite bouquet TPS, of the TF1 group.

Panel of the Canal+ logo (left) in front of the headquarters of TPS, the satellite bouquet of the TF1 group on December 12, 2005 in Issy-les-Moulineaux © JOEL SAGET / AFP

At the LNF, led by Noël Le Graët, we are delighted with the financial windfall, which was already counted at the time with nine zeros: a total of eight billion francs (the equivalent of 1.2 billion euros) until 2004, or 1.6 billion francs per season (240 million euros).

Yet the choice of Canal is questionable: its initial offer is financially lower than that of TPS (1.15 billion francs against 1.85 billion). TPS is furious, but the competitors end up negotiating a sharing: Canal+ keeps the best matches and its magazine "Jour de football", TPS broadcasts the 2nd best match per day and offers six other matches of each day à la carte, like Canalsat.

2004-2008: Canal+ cleans up

Competition laws apply and TPS and Canal+ are advancing in a bidding war that raises prices. But in 2004, Canal managed a coup de force at 650 million euros per season. For this record sum, it buys all the rights of Ligue 1. TPS, which had lost its raison d'être, was bought by Canal+ at the end of 2005.

Canal+ President Bertrand Méheut delivers a speech on August 31, 2005 in Paris during the presentation of the back-to-school programmes of the television © channel PASCAL PAVANI / AFP

Canal+ remained the sole broadcaster of the championship for four years and limited the increase in rights.

2008-2012: cohabitation with Orange

In 2008, a new player, Orange, the incumbent telecoms operator, entered the market and snatched part of the rights: it broadcast the Saturday night match.

Two football players carry an Orange billboard before the Ligue 1 match between Lille and Nice on May 17, 2009 in Villeneuve-d'Ascq © DENIS CHARLET / AFP

Canal+ keeps the lion's share and its ritual appointment on Sunday evening. The League obtains an annual sum of 668 million euros (465 paid by Canal +, 203 by Orange), a new record.

2012-2016: Internationalization of rights with beIN

Qatar, which has made sport a central part of its policy of influence in the world, is buying part of the rights to French football - after offering PSG in 2011. Called beIN Sports, the sports channel of the Qatari group Al-Jazeera is taking small steps on the French scene. During the tender covering the period 2012-2016, it takes the 3rd and 4th best matches, as well as the international rights of L1 and those of Ligue 2, while Canal+ keeps the two best posters. Total rights reach 607 million per year, a slight decrease.

Journalists from beIN Sports, the sports channel of the Qatari group Al-Jazeera before the Ligue 1 match between Nantes and Bordeaux on March 29, 2014 at the Beaujoire in Nantes © JEAN-SEBASTIEN EVRARD / AFP

2016-2020: Canal+ ousted, Mediapro crash

At the end of the call for tenders conducted in 2014, the period 2016-2020 is awarded for 726.5 million euros per season (not counting the 22 million for L2). Canal+ keeps the best posters but beIN Sports continues its expansion and keeps the international rights. Canal+ sues beIN for "unfair competition". And lose it.

Four years later, at the end of the negotiations for the period 2020-2024, Canal+, out of breath, does not get any lot, a first since 1984 (the encrypted channel will subsequently buy the two matches per day obtained by beIN).

A camera with the logo of the Sino-Spanish group Mediapro before the Ligue 1 match between Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille at the Parc des Princes in Paris on September 13, 2020 © FRANCK FIFE / AFP

The allocation of rights amounts to €1.153 billion, including €800 million for the Sino-Spanish group Mediapro. From the League to the clubs, all the players congratulate each other.

But the billion is a poisoned gift: in autumn 2020, Mediapro, which broadcasts the matches on its Téléfoot channel, is unable to pay. An unprecedented crisis ensued, until the termination of contract decided by the League.

- 2020-2023: Prime Video takes over

After the crash, Amazon made a strong entry into the media landscape of French football by recovering in June 2021 80% of the matches for the period 2021-2024, including the ten most beautiful posters of each season, for 250 million euros per season.

A journalist holds a Prime Video microphone during the Ligue 1 match between Troyes and Bordeaux at the Stade de l'Aube in Troyes northeast of France, December 12, 2021 © FRANCOIS NASCIMBENI / AFP

Canal+ feels aggrieved, it which disburses each season 332 million as part of the sublicense agreement with beIN for just two matches. She came into conflict with the League, but lost every court battle and had to honor her contract.

© 2023 AFP