The French Football League (LFP) is in talks with its international rights distributor, beIN Media Group, after a group of Ligue 1 clubs raised questions over the value of the top division’s overseas rights.
French newspaper L’Équipe said several club presidents are putting pressure on the LFP to reassess their contract with beIN, which was first signed in 2011 and has since been extended until 2023-24.
Ligue 1 clubs are currently said to share only €70m ($79.8m) per season from the league’s international media rights, compared to €1.3bn per season for England’s Premier League, €650m per season for Spain’s LaLiga, €370m per season for Italy’s Serie A and €250m per season for Germany’s Bundesliga.
L’Équipe said beIN has allocated €25m per season for the rights it has retained to exploit on its beIN Sports channels around the world. The LFP commissioned a study which states Ligue 1 could earn €39m more per season from these rights, or €234m over the remaining six seasons of the current contract with beIN.
L’Équipe said clubs raised their concerns at their last major meeting held in Cannes at the end of May. “It (the beIN deal) was a mistake… It must be changed for the interests of French football,” Monaco vice-president Vadim Vasilyev said.