LFP/Ligue 1 TV rights 2024-2029: "Canal+ is not taking part in any direct negotiations" (M. Saada)

"We believe that we have been the victims of a very significant loss for the Canal+ group, which is the main reason for Canal+'s current deficit in France. In these circumstances, we did not wish to renew our participation in the Ligue 1 tender. We are not taking part in any direct negotiations today," declared Maxime Saada, chairman and CEO of the pay and free-TV group Canal+, at the National Assembly on 29/02/2024, during his hearing before the Commission of Inquiry into the allocation, content and control of authorisations for national television services on DTT.

Maxime Saada was referring to the LFP's reattribution of the domestic TV rights for the Ligue Uber Eats, initially held by Mediapro, to the American e-commerce group Amazon for €250m per season over the 2021-2024 cycle. These rights (85% of the matches, 80% of which are exclusive) were acquired by Amazon for more than three times less than the amount bid by the Spanish group (€780m), while the Canal+ group had sub-licensed the TV rights to two Ligue 1 games per matchday from beIN SPORTS France for €332m per season over…