Major earthquake in the French sports audiovisual landscape! A capital decision, which fell on Tuesday, plunges the future of Ligue 1 in the most total uncertainty …
French football was holding its breath this Tuesday, April 15. It was the deadline set by the mediator Frank Gentin to try to find a way out of the Larvé conflict between the Professional Football League (LFP) and its major audiovisual partner. After weeks of tense negotiations, postponements and veiled threats,
A decision was to be made regarding the future of the French championship broadcast. The stake was colossal: the financial stability of the clubs and the visibility of the Ligue 1 for the years to come. Unfortunately, the new fall after this crucial day looks like the worst scenario.
The cleaver fell: Dazn slams the door!
The partner in question, and the one who has just caused this earthquake, is none other than Dazn. According to the latest information which filters after the failure of the final mediation, the British streaming platform, the main broadcaster of Ligue 1 since only the start of this season, would have taken the radical decision to put an end prematurely to its contract which was initially running until 2029. A brutal disengagement after only a year of operation, leaving the LFP and the French clubs in the face of a huge void.
Abyssal losses and “deception”: why Dazn throws in the towel
How did we get there? Dazn justifies his decision by an untenable economic situation and a feeling of having been injured. The platform accuses colossal losses on the Ligue 1 contract,
estimated between 200 and 250 million euros just for this season, According to figures mentioned during mediation. The number of subscribers (around 550,000) is very far from the initial objective (1.5 million) necessary to make the average annual investment of € 375 million profitable. Dazn also criticizes the LFP a form of “deception on goods” (a legal action demanding € 573 million had been launched), a lack of cooperation of clubs to enhance the product, and a struggle deemed ineffective against hacking in France.
The confirmed nightmare: the main partner drops Ligue 1!
A financial earthquake for French clubs
This early withdrawal from Dazn is a real disaster for the French football ecosystem. He created a gaping hole in club finances, already weakened, and plunges the LFP into an extremely delicate situation to find a replacement in an emergency and renegotiates future TV rights. The famous output clause included in the initial contract, activated in the event of a small number of subscribers, now places the league in a weak position to require substantial compensation. Dazn could get away by paying only the last deadlines of the current season.
And now ? French football in the unknown
After the Fiasco Mediappro a few years ago, French football undergoes a new earthquake with the announced departure of Dazn. What was to be a partnership for the future turns to the industrial nightmare. The LFP finds itself back to the wall, forced to find emergency solutions to ensure the broadcasting and especially the financing of its flagship championship from next season. The short -term future promises to be particularly dark and uncertain for the clubs of the French elite.
