French football slashed the champagne in 2018 with the annual billion euros acquired for the broadcasting of Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. But the bubble burst two years later due to the failure of the major broadcaster Mediapro. Back on a resounding failure.
May 2018: Mediapro comes out of the hat
On May 29, 2018, the LFP triumphantly announced that it had sold the national TV rights to Ligue 1 for 2020-24 against an annual amount of 1.153 billion euros, including 780 million supposed to come from Mediapro. This is a record for France and a godsend for elite clubs which derive more than a third of their revenue from TV rights (36% on average for L1 in 2018-2019).
The historic broadcaster Canal + publicly expresses doubts about the solidity of Mediapro, which lost the rights to Serie A in Italy for lack of a bank guarantee. But the general manager of the LFP wants to be reassuring. “We have no worries, because the situations are not comparable and because we have a joint guarantee from the reference shareholder of Mediapro”, says Didier Quillot.
August 2020: the Téléfoot channel comes out of the ground
For 25.90 euros per month, the new Téléfoot channel created by Mediapro offers viewers 8 matches per day, including the 10 most beautiful posters of the season.
Despite herself, the launch expected on August 21 is marred by the Covid-19. The League is indeed forced to postpone the OM-ASSE shock, because of contaminated players, to replace it with Bordeaux-Nantes, a less attractive product which results in a sad 0-0.
October 7: the bomb dropped by Roures
On September 24, Mediapro asked the League for a payment deadline concerning the next deadline for audiovisual rights (which amount over the season to € 780 million for L1 and € 34 million for L2), expected on October 5 and which must be donated to clubs on October 17th.
The boss of Mediapro explains in an interview with L’Equipe posted on October 7. “We want to discuss this season’s contract again. She is very affected by the Covid-19, everyone knows because everyone is suffering. We are not questioning the project as such. But the bars and restaurants are closed, advertising has collapsed … “, justifies Jaume Roures.
The next day, the League announces that it refuses the payment deadline. Discreet since his election on September 10, the new president Vincent Labrune comes out of his silence in L’Equipe to say “surprised about the form and worried about the substance”. The former president of OM questions “the capacity of this group to meet its contractual and financial obligations”.
Mid-October: formal notice of the LFP
The League raises the tone in a letter addressed to the clubs and unveiled on October 15 by AFP: “We (…) have put them on formal notice to settle the dates of October 1 and 5, while activating the guarantee given by the parent company”, the Chinese fund Orient Hontai Capital. “Either a favorable outcome is found with Mediapro, or this is not the case, and it will be necessary to consider taking over the contract by other operators”, announces Executive Director General Arnaud Rouger.
In the letter, we also learn that Mediapro has entered into a mediation procedure with the Nanterre commercial court, which allows companies to negotiate with their creditors.
On October 19, the French clubs validate at a general meeting the subscription of a loan of 112 M € by the League, a breath of fresh air only temporary and which is in addition to the loan guaranteed by the State of 224.5 M € subscribed by the League in the spring in the face of the pandemic.
October 21: Téléfoot “will not disappear”
The Téléfoot channel “will not disappear, neither tomorrow, nor the day after tomorrow”, says Roures in an interview with AFP, where the boss of the broadcaster Mediapro says “optimistic” in his reconquest of the “trust” of French football.
On December 5, however, the League did not receive the expected third installment of the season. Mediapro considers itself not liable for this deadline as long as the conciliation process is in progress.
December 11: breach of contract
The League has decided to end the contract with Mediapro, AFP learned from a source with access to the file. The output of the defective broadcaster must still be validated by the commercial court, the same source specifies, indicating that the LFP must recover its broadcasting rights by December 21.
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