World Soccer - UK (2021-10)

F

ollowinga yearof

uncertainty, legal

battlesandfinancial

strife,streaming

serviceAmazonPrime

Videohavefinally

endedLigue1’s

televisionbroadcastrightsdebacle.

Atthe startoflastseason,Spanish

broadcasterMediaproleda€1.1billion

per-seasonagreement– thesecond-

biggestdomesticTVrights deal after

thePremierLeague’s–thatwasseen

asa watershedmomentforLigue1.But

Mediapro’sstreamingservice, Telefoot,

quicklycollapsed,withsubscriptions

fallingshortofambitiousprojections.

Althougha temporary arrangement

wasfoundwithCanalPlustocover the

restofthe 2 02 0-2 1 campaign,thefinal

three seasonsofthe four-yearblock

remainedinfluxastheLFPsearched

foranewleadbroadcaster.

Amazon’slast-minutebidsecured

broadcastrightsforMediapro’s initial 80

percentshareof Ligue1 andLigue 2

matches.Buttheiragreementtoshow

eightgamesperweekfor€ 300 million

peryearreducedthe overallpackageby

42 per cent,leavingCanalPluspaying

€330mforjusttwogamesperround,

anagreementleft over from theinitial

dealwith Mediapro.

Canal,meanwhile,werefuriousto

belockedinto theiroriginalpricein

spiteofwhattheysaw as an obvious

devaluationofthe product,andinitially

refusedtopay theirshareto beIN

Sports,fromwhomtheysub-licence

therights.A court battleensued.

AlthoughCanaleventually agreedto

respecttheir initialagreement,both

broadcastersjointlymadea complaint

tothe EuropeanCommissionover

theLFP’shandlingofthesaga.

AmazonPrime,whohaveadded

ThierryHenry to theirpunditry team,

willcharge€ 12 .99permonthfor

accesstotheirshareof Ligue1 games,

ontop of the€6 permonth required

tobea Primecustomer. Amarked

decreaseonthe monthly€24.9 9

Telefootchargedlast season.

Ina typicalpieceofbad timingfor

theLFP, afinal agreementwas sorted

justdaysbeforeLionelMessi’s arrivalat

PSG,a move thatshouldhaveboosted

thepricesignificantly. Nevertheless,the

securityofa broadcast dealwillbe a

relieftoLigue 1 clubswho’vestruggled

desperatelyinthelast 1 8 months,

particularlyBordeaux,whoendedlast

seasononthevergeofbankruptcy.

LuxembourgbusinessmanGerard

LopezsuccessfullyrescuedLes

Girondinsfromfinancialoblivionlast

month,despite beingforcedoutofLille

lastChristmasforfailingtopaydebtsto

USinvestmentfundElliott Management.

Followingthesuddenwithdrawalof

supportfrompreviousinvestorsKing

Streetattheendoflastseason,

Bordeaux’sverysurvivalwas at stake,

havingbeenplacedundertheprotection

ofa commercialcourt pending

administration.

Havingbarelymaintained their

top-flightstatusonthe pitchlastseason,

Bordeauxwereevenprovisionally

relegated by French football’sstrict

financialwatchdog,theDNCG,dueto

thegapingholeintheirbudget,though

Lopezwasabletosuccessfullyconvince

theDNCGof hisnewproject’svalidity

uponappealandoverturnthedecision.

Hisnextmovewasto replace head

coachJean-LouisGassetwithVladimir

Petkovic, freshfromguiding Switzerland

tothe quarter-finals

ofEuro 2 02 0.

Aswellas

suggestinghe

wouldrectify some

unpopulardecisions

byKingStreet,

includingrestoring

theclub’s formerbadgeandfullname,

Lopezstatedhewantedtoinstila

“mindsetand cultureof winning.Wewill

aimfor thetophalfof theLigue 1 table

andtoplayinEuropewithinthreeyears.”

Despitethesecurityofferedby the

newdeal,Bordeauxandthe majority

ofLigue1remainundersignificant

financialstrainduetothediminished

natureof theagreement,withtransfer

expenditure heavilyreducedthis

summer. PSGmighthavesignedMessi

andmade himthehighest-paidplayer

inthe world,butthe financialrealities

ofthe clubschasingtheminLigue 1

remainsmarkedlydifferent.

AdamWhiteforGFFN

22 WLD SCCE

Newarrivals...

Bordeaux’s new

coachVladimir

Petkovic(left)

withclubpresident

Gerard Lopez (right)

Resolution...Amazon’s

latebidprovideda

solutionfor theLFP

Thesecurityofabroadcastdealwillbearelief

toLigue 1 clubs...particularlyBordeaux,who

endedlastseasononthevergeofbankruptcy

Ligue 1

Financialdisasteravertedforboththeleagueand

GirondinsdeBordeaux,butproblemsstillremain

Headliners