Amazon Prime Video has reached a deal with the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) to showcase live Ligue 1 games in the UK for a fixed price.
UK consumers will be able to watch up to three matches per weekend during the duration of the Ligue 1 season for £2.49 each game. This also does not require a Prime Video account, only a standard Amazon account to purchase the pay-per-view (PPV) option.
Prime Video will serve as an aggregator for the LFP as the French footballing association will hope Amazon’s large streaming platform will increase the visibility of league games across the UK.
Before the start of the 2024/25 season, LFP Media was unable to come to an agreement with a UK broadcasting partner. Instead, it set up a direct-to-consumer service – Ligue 1 Pass – that allowed UK consumers to watch every Ligue 1 fixture for a monthly subscription price of £9.99 per-month, or £79.99 per-year.
Martin Aurenche, Chief Media Officer at LFP Media, stated: “We are delighted to finalise this landmark agreement with Prime Video, and to extend our successful collaboration to another territory. Ligue 1 fans in the UK will benefit from Prime Video’s extensive reach, with matches made available in a highly innovative way.
“This marks another step forward in our pursuit of new business models, following the successful launch of our DTC platform, Ligue 1 Pass, in the UK a few months ago.”
Amazon primed for football growth
Prime Video has made live football content a key focus of its sports content division. The streaming platform has held domestic Premier League rights in the UK for the last six years, however, it will lose these rights once the next broadcast rights cycle begins next season.
Prime Video received praise for its alternative measures of presenting live Premier League fixtures, with features such as allowing customers to turn commentary off-and-on, as well as support for its list of punditry analysts.
Despite losing Premier League rights next season, Prime Video is in the first year of a three-year deal with UEFA to showcase up to 30 Champions League matches per season. Prime Video gains a selection of Tuesday night matches, all the way up to the semi-finals.
However, Ligue 1 matches on Prime Video is nothing new. The platform held domestic rights as part of the previous broadcast rights cycle, showing eight games per week and sharing the rights with Canal+ and beIN Sports.
Adding Ligue 1 matches in the UK to its growing football portfolio adds an interesting element to Prime Video’s sports offering as it is uncharted territory for the platform.
LFP looking elsewhere amid DAZN lawsuit
Whilst the Prime Video deal is only available to UK customers, it may add an interesting wrinkle to the ongoing saga between the LFP and DAZN.
The French footballing body and DAZN are currently in the midst of a court battle over unpaid payments from the sports streaming platform, having only paid 50% of its current Ligue 1 domestic broadcast deal.
DAZN asserted that it has withheld payments from LFP due to a belief the french football authority’s measures to protect piracy of games and not supported the platform with other editorial content.
It is another unfortunate saga surrounding French football at the moment. Ligue 1 was on the cusp of not being able to secure a national broadcaster this season until DAZN, alongside beIN Sports, agreed a last minute deal with the LFP for the next five years.
If Prime Video’s PPV Ligue 1 offering in the UK becomes a success, not only could it be expanded to other countries and if a resolution is not met between the LFP and DAZN, Prime Video may become a prime candidate for domestic rights in France.
