LFP TV rights (2020-2024): surprise arrival of Mediapro and Free; record value of €1.3bn per year

With €1.172bn per season over the 2020-2024 cycle (+61% compared to €726.5m for the 2016-2020 cycle), Ligue 1 has become the European league with the second most valuable domestic TV rights since the start of the 2020-21 season. Nevertheless, the LFP's TV rights remain the fifth most valuable of the European Top 5 given the weakness of the League's international rights (approximately €80m per year paid by beIN Sports over the 2018-2024 cycle) compared to those of its competitors (see below). Adding the Ligue 2 TV rights (€64m/year), the LFP has sold these rights for a record total of more than €1.3bn over the 2020-2024 cycle (compared to €828.5m over the 2016-2020 cycle).

The awarding of the LFP's domestic TV rights for the 2020-2024 cycle has been marked by several major events:

• The creation of new time slots (Saturday at 21:00 CET, Sunday at 13:00 and a multiplex on Sunday at 15:00) and a "sophisticated" call for tenders for Ligue 1 with, notably, sequential auctions, certain lots including time slots but not determining the choice of matches (separate allocation) and a full…