Ligue 1 television deal collapses

[Conigliaro's Potential]

I expect this to be a short thread, but this seems like news which has pretty major ramifications across European football - particularly in France, of course, but also with regard to clubs elsewhere looking to buy players at French clubs:
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/dec/15/ligue-1-clubs-stare-financial-abyss-tv-deal-collapses-mediapro

 

[swiftaw]

Seems like the league got blinded by the $$$ and didn't do due diligence. Obviously its impossible to know, but I'm not even sure that deal would've been viable even without Covid.

 

[OCST]

of the 5 top leagues I'd be least interested in a Ligue 1 package. All of them have a top-heavy problem but Ligue 1 is really just PSG and everyone else. There are other quality clubs but not enough and not the same names consistently. As a neutral footy fan there are fewer L1 games that I'd want to see than any other league.

To the extent that it matters.

 

[Royal Reader]

I'm not much one for watching games that I can't go to. But if I were in a bar and, say, the Rome derby was on, I'd probably show some interest. I'm not sure I'd do the same for, say, OM-OL.

 

[candylandriots]

Yeah those numbers for that league are just insane. Are 20% (guessing based on population) of French households ever going to shell out €25/month for these games(especially given your biggest fans are already planning to go to half of the games)? It just seemed crazy from the start to anyone with a calculator.

 

[67YAZ]

And it looks like Canal+ is playing hardball since they were spurned in last bidding and Ligue 1 has no good real alternatives at the moment. This is bad, bad, bad leadership.

So, a winter fire sale for every club besides PSG? Aouar to Arsenal, Depay to Barca, and so on down the line? Mostly I hope Lyon doesn't sell-off from the women's team. I think having them as the pace-setter for women's football is good for the sport's development right now - a mythical juggernaut for fans to root for or against is a sure way to draw attention.

 

[rguilmar]

This is a bummer. I've found Ligue 1 to be really entertaining whenever I watched a game (admittedly a lot less than La Liga, Serie A, or the Bundesliga). Before the recent rise of PSG, it seemed like the league championship would come down to the last weekend with multiple teams in the running. There are usually a bunch of young talented players since they had to develop their stars. The league always seemed limited by French tax law that made it a relatively unattractive spot for top players. I imagine that this will lead to massive sell offs. There is no way that this doesn't destroy the finances of a lot of teams. As TB already noted, Lille looks to be in serious trouble.