LFP/TV rights: no agreement between Mediapro and LFP by 04/12/2020, negotiations continue (press)

The Chinese-Spanish audiovisual group Mediapro and the French Professional Football League have not reached any agreement in their conciliation procedure relating to the payment for the broadcasting rights to Ligue 1 Uber Eats and Ligue 2 BKT, and a delay of a few days was granted to the parties to try to agree on a crisis exit scenario, reported the French sports daily L'Équipe on 04/12/2020.

The mediator was to provide a report on the conciliation to the president of the tribunal on 04/12/2020. "The conciliation process can last up to four months, extendable by one month (or five months maximum, in total); it is a procedure which allows French companies to find a stable legal framework to negotiate with its creditors," explained a lawyer for Mediapro on 21/10/2020.

Mediapro wishes to renegotiate the first year (2020-21) of its contract (€830m per season) downwards as much as 20%. The audiovisual group did not pay the second installment of its contract on 05/10/2020 and the third was scheduled for 05/12/2020. The LFP took out a loan of €112m in October 2020 to compensate for…