INTERVIEW
Didier Quillot, the general manager of the professional football league (LFP), has almost become a regular on the scene. After a first edition last year, the Champions Trophy, which opposes at the beginning of each season the outgoing champion to the winner of the Coupe de France, returns to Shenzhen, in the south of China. The LFP, which laid the groundwork for its development in the country two seasons ago with the opening of the first LFP office, is beginning to reap the benefits of its work.
"China is a strategic country for the international development of Ligue 1", explains the microphone of Europe 1 Didier Quillot. "We have intensified our presence on social networks, we have signed a partnership with CCTV ( the equivalent of France Televisions, China, ed ) which has a pool of one billion inhabitants.There are two League matches 1 live broadcast each weekend, resulting in increased audiences. "We are the 3rd European League in terms of audience behind the Premier League and La Liga. Things are progressing quite well, the indicators are on the rise in terms of audience and revenues of our rights in China. "
One hundred million viewers in cumulative audience
Thanks in particular to PSG and its stars - "our locomotive, our gondola head in China" admits Didier Quillot -, the matches of our national championship were watched by nearly 100 million viewers on CCTV last year in cumulative audience .
"This is obviously small nationwide ( which has 1.4 billion inhabitants, ed ), but it is a figure higher than what Canal + and BeIn Sports in France. in a good way, we need to catch up with the other European leagues, "adds the LFP general manager to Europe 1." And from next year, there will be every weekend a match on Sunday at 1 pm The test, two seasons ago (Nice-PSG), had a great success of audience.We will install a habit, a recurrence, for this box to become a reference for the Chinese market. "
Heading for the United States in 2020
From now on, the Professional Football League wants to continue its international expansion on the other side of the Atlantic. "I want to propose a big tour in the United States, by coupling two events: the EA Ligue 1 Games ( the first edition was held last July in Washington, ed ) and the Champions Trophy. 'Intensify the presence of the Ligue 1 in the United States, late July, early August. "Nothing is decided yet, it must be synthesized", tempers however Didier Quillot, aware that there is still much to do. For its first edition, the tournament in Washington was played in stadiums almost empty.
But the League seems willing to persevere, aware that the country of Uncle Sam is essential to the economic development and marketing of French football. "We have two geographical priorities in the international development plan of Ligue 1: China and the United States, two football-loving countries, and in China it's even a national priority. to host the World Cup in 2030. In the United States, they are fans of soccer, especially women, but it must contribute to make more popular male football and there will be the World in 2026. The planets are aligned. is ours, Ligue 1, to be the best compared to our competitors Spanish, Italian, English.It's a long job, the English started 20 years ago, we have been three years, so there is a lot to do."
And before attracting long-term American or Chinese fans, we do not forget to the League a sine qua non condition: sports performance. "It is also necessary that our clubs perform in the European Cup, this is the engine of notoriety in countries a little far," concludes the director general of the LFP.
Professionalisation of women's football: Didier Quillot's "yes, but"
This did not escape Didier Quillot, the Women's World Cup in France met a popular success and audience. The latter is ready to help the development of French women's football.
"The LFP has already given money to women's football, two years ago, on the profits we had with the FFF on the 2018 World Cup ( about 100,000 euros per club, ed .) We will now work more closely with the FFF, we talked about it with Noël Le Graët, at his request, nothing has been decided at this stage, but there are discussions to see how Ligue 1 can help women's football. a common desire to help women's sections grow faster as Spain and England have done, we have to do that too, but I think the women's market is a start-up market. I am not sure that there is a market, in the economic sense of the word, sufficient to professionalise the entire female Division 1. In any case, there is a common will of the Fed and League 1 of help women's football grow faster. "