The ongoing broadcast rights battle between the Ligue de Football Professional (LFP) and broadcaster DAZN is reaching boiling point and Ligue 1 clubs could potentially feel the financial brunt of the dispute.
Talks between LFP and DAZN have reportedly broken down after the two parties were not able to come to a compromise following unpaid instalments from DAZN to the French football governing organisation.
DAZN withheld a €70m instalment to LFP last February over assertions that the LFP has not been fulfilling its duties to help the global streaming platform fight piracy of its Ligue 1 broadcasts.
The LFP subsequently took legal action against DAZN, with 50% of the €140m it owes the organisation this year yet to be paid. DAZN secured a four-year broadcast rights package at the final hour of last summer for Ligue 1, but the €400m total value was well below LFP’s early projections.
As a result, a mediator was put in place to help smooth over talks between the two parties and find a solution. Conditions were laid out by both DAZN and LFP and it appears they are not close to any form of agreement due to the terms they are requesting.
The LFP is requesting that DAZN continue its broadcast of Ligue 1 until the end of the season and then pay the €70m it owes to the organisation. It also wants a compensation fee of €125m that was recommended by the mediator, or carry out two more years of its broadcast rights deal but with reduced rights fees.
On the other hand, DAZN is proposing that it will pay the full €140m for this season to continue its Ligue 1 broadcast with no compensation fee, or continue its full four-year obligation but pay the LFP accordingly to various rights fees based on subscriber targets for the streaming platform.
DAZN also highlighted its interest in obtaining broadcast rights for Saturday afternoon games. However, this slot is currently held by Ligue 1’s other domestic broadcaster beIN Sports.
The LFP has reportedly been angling for an exit from the DAZN deal and received backing from Ligue 1 clubs last Tuesday. However, it appears that DAZN is taking the opposite approach, as seen in its conditions.
A DAZN statement sent to Sportcal read: “After four months of discussions — including six weeks of mediation — initiated in good faith by DAZN and involving several proposals, the mediation unfortunately did not succeed in sufficiently bridging the gap between the parties.
“It has therefore not been possible — at this stage — to reach an agreement for an amicable resolution of the situation.”
Another financial hit for Ligue 1
In the background of the ongoing battle between the LFP and DAZN are clubs from Ligue 1, who have been financially embattled for several years.
Many clubs in France’s top-flight football league depend on the revenue generated by broadcast rights, which is distributed across the league’s teams. The LFP, from as early as the start of the 2023/24 season, was reportedly aiming for a total of €1bn for its domestic rights packages for the 2024-2029 cycle in order to keep up with the increasingly lucrative broadcast deals in England, Germany, Italy and Spain.
However, with the departures of superstar names like Kylian Mbappé, Neymar Jr., and Lionel Messi, broadcast interest dropped and subsequently, so too did the valuation of Ligue 1’s broadcast rights fees.
The LFP also left it as late as a week before the 2024/25 Ligue 1 season began to secure the broadcast deal with DAZN and beIN Sports, which left the organisation mulling over the launch of a direct-to-consumer (DTC) streaming platform operated by LFP Media to broadcast all 306 league games.
Now, with Ligue 1 clubs more than likely set to receive less funds from broadcast rights in the short term as DAZN and the LFP appear less than likely to come to a resolution anytime soon, the launch of a DTC Ligue 1 streaming service seems more likely than ever before.
This would, however, require DAZN to payout the instalment it owes the LFP as well as the compensation fee and agree to exit the deal.
