The football TV rights left vacant by Mediapro should be awarded during a call for tenders according to two sources familiar with the matter.
According to them, the Professional Football League validated this principle in the board of directors on Thursday.
The board of directors of the Professional Football League (LFP) validated Thursday the principle of a call for tenders for the vacant TV rights of the French Championships, two sources with knowledge of the matter told AFP.
The League wants to put back on the market only the lots abandoned by Mediapro, the defective broadcaster of 80% of matches in the Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 championships, according to these sources.
However Canal + could press for a global call for tenders.
Canal + wants to redo offers on its lots
Canal +, approached for the resumption of TV rights, has on the contrary already requested that this call for tenders be global, including the two matches per day of Ligue 1 that it currently broadcasts and that it wishes to return.
Canal + boss Maxime Saada indeed announced in an interview with Le Figaro on Tuesday that the encrypted channel intended to return lot number 3 that it broadcasts, comprising 20% of Ligue 1 for an amount of 330 million euros per year, before making another offer on the different lots.
But the League has a different legal interpretation on this file, considering that it can only put in competition the matches abandoned by the Mediapro group, which had initially promised more than 800 million euros per year before showing itself unable to pay its bills in October.
In addition, Canal + only broadcasts its two matches per day via a sub-license agreement signed with the beIN Sports channel, which is itself under contract with the LFP.
An accelerated procedure?
The precise timetable for this future call for tenders has not been specified.
The hypothesis of an accelerated procedure, of only ten days, against 6 to 8 weeks usually, has been suggested.
Time is running out for the clubs, recipients of this televisual windfall: after January 31, the broadcasting of Mediapro matches is not guaranteed.
Indeed, the withdrawal agreement signed by the LFP and Mediapro provides that Téléfoot, the channel of the Sino-Spanish group, will continue broadcasting until January 31 at the latest.
As for the matches broadcast by Canal +, their payments were settled until February 5, giving rise to fears of a suspension of payments on that date if Canal + goes to the end of its analysis.
The clubs, already deprived of ticketing revenue by the health crisis, would then face even more drastic losses, while they have, in parallel, launched negotiations to lower the salaries of the players.