The Fédération Française de Rugby (FFR) and Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) have agreed to shift the weekly Sunday afternoon Top 14 French rugby union game that is shown on pay-television broadcaster Canal Plus to 5pm local time following complaints from the amateur game.
Amateur matches traditionally kick off at 3pm on Sunday afternoons, but Canal Plus's coverage of Top 14 games kicking off at 4.15pm had drawn criticism from some lower-tier clubs, which had suggested that their attendances could be affected by the clash.
The LNR and Canal Plus agreed to delay the start of the Sunday afternoon Top 14 game on December 27 by 30 minutes to 4.45. The new 5pm kick-off time will be introduced in February.
The LNR has also proposed to supply each amateur club with a big-screen television and a free subscription to Canal Plus to allow them to watch the live match every Sunday in their clubhouse after their own game. There are 1,885 French clubs that would qualify for the hand-out, with the Canal Plus subscriptions proposed to run until 2023 – the end of the broadcaster’s current rights deal for the Top 14.