Nonce Paolini, chief executive of the TF1 Group, has said the commercial broadcaster’s rights to the France national football team are “not indispensable” with the European qualifiers for the Uefa Euro 2016 and 2018 Fifa World Cup national team tournaments currently on the market.
Paolini said that TF1 had already made bids for the rights, but added that the price must be “reasonable” for the broadcaster with France having already qualified for Euro 2016 as the tournament’s host nation.
He told Le Figaro newspaper: “Honestly, from a financial point of view, the France team is not indispensable for TF1. However, TF1 remains very attached to the France team, this is why we have made proposals to [football’s European governing body] Uefa.
"These proposals are serious and reasonable because France games between 2014 and 2016 will be only be friendlies as the team has qualified automatically for Euro 2016.”
In September, the CAA Eleven agency, working on behalf of Uefa, launched invitations to tender for the media rights to European qualifiers for Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup in France.
TF1 is currently preparing for tonight’s coverage of France’s crucial 2014 World Cup play-off tie against Ukraine. France enters the second leg in Paris having to overturn a 2-0 loss in the first game to reach next year’s finals in Brazil.
The game is expected to generate one of the top audiences of any programme in the country this year.