L1 Call for tenders: "Surprised Vincent Labrune announced Canal+ wouldn't participate" (M. Saada)

"Nothing surprises me any more about the Ligue de Football Professionnel, and certainly not this obsession with the billion figure that led to the Mediapro disaster, with its fanciful comparisons with what may have been achieved in other territories. So the amount itself didn't necessarily surprise me. What really surprised me was that Vincent Labrune (president of the LFP) announced it and at the same time declared that Canal+ would not be participating (in the tender). That's a first. When you combine these two pieces of information, you have to wonder whether there isn't already an agreement with a broadcaster or a platform," said Maxime Saada, chairman and CEO of the pay and free TV group Canal+, to the French sports daily L'Équipe on 29/06/2023.

"For the call for tenders, we are sticking to the business plan drawn up with CVC, with overall audiovisual revenues (domestic and international) in the region of €1bn. We're aiming for around €1bn, even if the macro-economic and financial context is tricky. That may be a little optimistic, but we have plenty of room for improvement on…