TV rights: Jaume Roures (Mediapro), the man who shakes French professional football

"The contract was drawn up under conditions that have nothing to do with the current situation. This is obvious. It is necessary to talk about it. Then we'll see how it goes. We are not calling into question the contract, but we are calling into question the current situation," said Jaume Roures (ESP), founding partner of the Chinese-Spanish audiovisual group Mediapro, on 07/10/2020.

The contract evoked by Jaume Roures is the one concluded with the French Professional Football League on 29/05/2018 for the 2020-2024 cycle of broadcasting rights in France for Ligue 1. Amount: approximately €800m per year.

For more than two years, French professional football has been impatiently awaiting this 2020-2024 cycle, a new era thanks to the 61% jump in its domestic TV rights (€1.172bn in total per season instead of €726.5m per season during the 2016-2020 period).

In the meantime, unfortunately, there has been the coronavirus (Covid-19), the early termination of the 2019-20 French Championships on 30/04/2020 and a start of the 2020-21 season behind closed doors or in front of a few handfuls…