Foot: Lionel Messi to boost Ligue 1 internationally?

Lionel Messi against Leipzig in the Champions League on October 19.

Franck Fife AFP

Text by: Farid Achache Follow

3 min

The world audience of the classic of the French Championship Sunday, October 24 during the "clasico" between PSG and Marseille could take off with the presence of the superstar Lionel Messi.

With the former FC Barcelona player, the Professional Football League (LFP) hopes to "

increase

" this season.

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For the moment, international TV rights are limited to around 80 million euros per year until 2024, a far cry from the 1.5 billion euros of the English Premier League, the league that generates the most money, or even the 139 million euros of the

Italian

(excluding the United States and the Middle East).

Messi to help sell Ligue 1 better

With his six Ballons d'Or,

can help sell Ligue 1 better outside France in the next round of rights. Last year, for Marseille's 1-0 victory at the Parc des Princes on September 13, 2020, nearly 5 million viewers followed the match internationally, " 

 " of a 2020-2021 season where the Ligue 1, broadcast by 55 channels in 208 territories according to the LFP, generated a cumulative audience of 580 million viewers, a figure up 20%.

first match

in Reims on August 29 (2-0) shattered the Ligue 1 audience record abroad with more than 14 million viewers, according to the LFP.

But the figure is far from overwhelming the counters!

Spanish La Liga claims no less than 650 million potential viewers " 

 " for the

Barcelona-Real Madrid

next Sunday, ensuring they have " 

" on the planet.

In Brazil, "the classic" broadcast for several years

In Spain, the Cuatro channel has decided to broadcast the classic OM-PSG in clear and live. Cuatro was encouraged by the audiences of Telecinco (another channel of the Mediaset group) for the Reims-PSG meeting, which has become the most watched football match of a foreign championship in the history of Spanish television with 2.2 million average viewers, and peaks at 6.7 million, according to Mediaset.

In Brazil, "the classic" has been broadcast for several years, especially since Neymar wears the colors of the Parisian club. For Brazilian viewers, more than the OM-PSG poster, it is above all the Parisian club that attracts attention, for the presence of "Ney" and Messi. But the Brazilian press is also looking at the results of Jorge Sampaoli's OM, since the Argentine technician led the Brazilian clubs of Santos and Atlético Mineiro.

OM have not won against the Parisians at the Vélodrome since November 2011. Lionel Messi, used to the fiery Barça-Real, will discover the Marseille atmosphere.

Author of a double against

, but still looking for his first goal in Ligue 1, the Argentinian will be accompanied on the front of the Parisian attack by Kylian Mbappé.

However, doubts still remain around the presence of Neymar, affected in the adductors.  

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