TV rights: "I look at Germany with envy, but it's a counterexample" (V. Labrune, LFP)

"Germany is a large market with a strong pay-TV culture, but above all it is the country where competition is by far the freest. Quite the opposite of France. This isn't an attack on anyone, but simply that one major player, Canal+, did not want to take part in our call for tenders. Such a situation does not exist elsewhere. I look at it with envy, but Germany is a counterexample. Across Europe, the market for audiovisual rights is in decline," said Vincent Labrune, president of the Ligue de Football Professionnel, told Le Parisien on 19/12/2024.

Labrune was reacting to the recent award of domestic TV rights for the Bundesliga and 2.Bundesliga to DAZN, Sky Deutschland, ProsiebenSat.1 and RTL Deutschland for the 2025-2029 cycle. The annual value of the rights is €1.121bn, up 2% on 2021-2025 (€1.1bn per year), for a total of €4.484bn over four years.

"The major trend, according to all the experts, is that domestic rights will decline to the benefit of international and European rights. That's why we're maximising the competitiveness of our European clubs by directing the distribution…