Meeting Thursday, January 14 in the afternoon, the board of directors of the Professional Football League (LFP) unanimously validated the principle of a call for tenders concerning the batches of matches abandoned by Mediapro, broadcaster of 80% of Ligue 1 and Ligue 2, told Agence France-Presse two sources with knowledge of the case.
These prizes, which include in particular the Sunday night matches, including the ten most beautiful posters of the Ligue 1 season, were awarded for a record amount in 2018 to the Sino-Spanish group, for more than 800 million euros per year. .
But Mediapro was unable to honor its payments this fall, before signing an agreement in December for its withdrawal.
Historic broadcaster of Ligue 1, Canal + has been tipped for several months to resume these matches, but the encrypted channel has requested the organization of a global call for tenders, including the matches it currently broadcasts and that it wishes return, i.e. 20% of Ligue 1.
The boss of Canal +, Maxime Saada, announced Tuesday, in an interview with Le Figaro, that the encrypted channel intended to return lot number 3 that it broadcasts for an amount of 330 million euros per year.
But the League has a different legal interpretation on this file, considering that it can only put the matches abandoned by Mediapro into competition. Canal + only broadcasts Ligue 1 via a sub-license agreement signed with the beIN Sports channel, and is therefore not directly under contract with the LFP. However, beIN Sports has not let anything officially filter on its intentions.
Sources familiar with the case questioned by AFP did not indicate a precise timetable for this future call for tenders, one of them nevertheless advancing the hypothesis of an accelerated procedure, with a call for tenders. offers lasting only ten days, compared to 6 to 8 weeks usually.
The withdrawal agreement signed by the LFP and Mediapro provides that Téléfoot, the channel of the Sino-Spanish group, must continue broadcasting its meetings until January 31 at the latest. As for the matches broadcast by Canal +, their payments were settled until February 5.
