Legal victory for French football against Canal +, historical broadcaster: justice ruled, Thursday, March 11, to the Professional Football League (LFP) on the mode of reallocation of TV rights after the failure of the Sino-Spanish group Mediapro, arguing that the LFP was not constrained to a global call for tenders.
According to a copy of the decision consulted by Agence France-Presse (AFP), the Paris Commercial Court ruled that the LFP was within its rights by only releasing on the market the TV rights abandoned by Mediapro, unlike the he hypothesis of a global call for tenders, which Canal + wanted, supported by its partner BeIN Sports.
This decision assures the L1 and L2 clubs, essential beneficiaries of this precious television windfall, that the famous “lot 3” of the initial call for tenders of 2018, held by Canal + for 332 million euros annually until 2024 , must not be put back on the market.
In a press release, Canal + announced that it would appeal this decision and that it maintained a parallel summons, placed with the Competition Authority, and which is to last several months. “The Canal + group continues to consider that any call for applications which excludes lot 3, currently operated by the Canal + group (under license with BeIN Sports), would constitute an abuse of the LFP’s dominant position by creating conditions discriminatory transactions between potential buyers ”, explains the chain, which estimates the amount of this overvalued lot.
Canal + and BeIN Sports had refused to participate in the market consultation conducted by the LFP on 1er February, which concerned the lots left vacant by Mediapro, that is to say 80% of Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Nevertheless, for justice, “The refusal of the LFP to include lot 3 in a general call for applications does not have the effect of distorting competition”. This decision confirms the LFP in its wish to negotiate the vacant rights of ” little by little “, i.e. directly with interested broadcasters for the next three seasons.
For the current season, which ends in the spring, Canal + and the LFP had reached an agreement on February 4, which granted the Vivendi group channel all of the remaining rights for the L1 season, for 35 million euros. euros in addition to what Canal + already had to pay in the pre-existing contract. The commercial court also noted in its judgment that Canal + had signed this agreement “By mutual agreement (…), without considering that this agreement would be a violation of competition law ”.
TV rights, initially expected at 1.217 billion euros per year for L1 and L2, fell, for the 2020-2021 season, to around 683 million euros after the failure of Mediapro and the closure of its ephemeral Téléfoot channel. .
