The Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) has given French pay-television broadcasters Canal Plus and beIN Sports access to a host of archive content for free following the postponement of 2019-20 Ligue 1 due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
According to French newspaper Le Parisien, Didier Quillot, chief executive at the LFP, has said the broadcasters will have the right to replay all the Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 games from the last ten seasons, including 2019-20, for free and in full.
Archive matches are expected to be shown from this weekend.
Ligue 1 rights are currently held by Canal Plus and beIN. Canal Plus holds live rights to three matches each match-week and linear highlights. BeIN holds live rights to one match per match-week, multiplex coverage of all other matches, plus linear and online highlights.
Ligue 1 rights from 2020-21 have been acquired by the Mediapro agency and beIN in four-season deals from 2020-21 to 2023-24.
Despite missing out in the tender for rights from next season, Canal Plus will continue to broadcast live Ligue 1 matches after signing a exclusive distribution and sublicensing agreement with beIN.
Along with the carriage of all of beIN Sports’ premium channels and their exclusive distribution to third-party operators, the Vivendi-owned broadcaster will also exclusively acquire beIN’s live Ligue 1 rights from 2020-21 to 2023-24.
This week, the 20 clubs that make up Ligue 1 reportedly agreed on a revenue distribution system for the competition’s next broadcast rights cycle.