He said that the current difficult economic climate made it more important for the league’s clubs to know as early as possible what their revenues would be in the seasons ahead. “Our clubs need, in a tough economic climate, better visibility in the medium term,” he said. “We need to know quickly what our resources will be between 2012 and 2016.”
Thiriez said the revenue target was at least the €668 million ($915 million) per season the league currently earns from deals with pay-television operators Canal Plus and Orange running from 2008-09 to 2011-12. “At each tender, we are told ‘Oh la la, it’s going down’. And each time we managed to not only avoid a drop, but to increase. My goal, clearly, is to maintain at least the current level of the rights and, believe me, we’ll get there.”