A breath of fresh air and the prospect of looking to the future with a little more serenity. Financially battered by the Covid 19 pandemic and the bankruptcy of Mediapro, the short-lived broadcaster of the French football championship, the twenty Ligue 1 clubs all voted on Thursday March 24 for the second phase of their agreement with CVC Capital Partners.
They had to agree on the distribution of the sum of 1.5 billion euros that the investment fund said it was ready to inject into a new commercial company created by the Professional Football League (LFP), whose he would hold 13% of the capital.
The main point of tension was over the amount that would be allocated to PSG. According to our information, the deal was not easy to negotiate, and discussions ended late Wednesday with the first French club, which estimates that it generates between 32% and 34% of French football revenue.
Finally, the Parisian club agreed to settle for 200 million euros, 100 million euros less than originally hoped. “Legitimately, they could claim more, but it was also necessary to have the vote of the medium and small clubs”said a witness to the negotiations.
This effort will allow Olympique de Marseille and Olympique Lyonnais to receive 90 million euros each, while Lille, Nice, Monaco and Rennes will obtain 80 million euros. The thirteen other clubs will receive 33 million euros each.
“CVC wanted there to be unanimity on this project, and not for the clubs to tear each other apart. We told the clubs that this was the condition for investing., said one of the negotiators. CVC obviously does not want to relive its Italian experience, where the clubs have still not managed to agree on the distribution of the sums.
“Clubs, large and medium, spoke with one voice”
“This is an important step and a step forward for French football, welcomes Loïc Féry, president and owner of FC Lorient and vice-president of the board of directors of the LFP. Standing out from what may have happened in other countries, the French professional clubs, large and medium, spoke with one voice, united with the ambition of Ligue 1 to become top 3 at European level. This is an important step for French football. »
At the same time, the clubs have also agreed on the future distribution of recurring revenues: television rights and digital revenues. The international rights of Ligue 1 represent only 70 million euros per year, very far from those of the British Premier League (5.3 billion pounds over the period 2022-2025, or 2.12 billion euros per year). year).
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