Ligue 1 clubs will accumulate a total of $166m in broadcast revenue via the league’s new direct-to-consumer (DTC) streaming service Ligue 1+.
L’Equipe reported the total broadcast revenue from Ligue 1+ is expected to generate $185m with $18.8m to be paid out to broadcast partners, such as DAZN, Orange, and Amazon Prime Video.
According to a report from the France Finance Committee of the French Professional Football League (LFP), the 2025/26 Ligue 1 champions stand to make $35m in broadcast revenue, while the 18th-placed (bottom) finished club will earn up to $4.37m.
Broadcast revenue projections were raised from early forecasts of $94.4m to $166m after Ligue 1+ was able to garner over one million subscribers within its first month from launching.
L’Equipe reported the streaming service currently has 1.026 million monthly subscribers with varying subscription packages.
Ligue 1+ has a set price of $17.00 (€14.99) for a standard subscription, with other packages set at $12 (€9.99) for customers under-26 years old, and a month-to-month subscription plan priced at $23 (€19.99).
The LFP also earns revenue from sublicensing deals with DAZN, Orange and Amazon Prime Video for Ligue 1+ to show select Ligue 1 games on their respective platforms.
A successful model?
Broadcast revenue from the 2024/25 was greatly impacted by the collapse of the four-year DAZN agreement last May. Despite the LFP retaining Canal+ as a broadcast partner and the successful early subscription numbers of Ligue 1+, average broadcast revenue is significantly down.
Angers SCO is one of the first Ligue 1 clubs to express its anger in declining broadcast revenue and believes this only fuels the notion French football is “experiencing an unprecedented economic crisis”.
The club stated: “While Angers SCO should have received €19m($22.3m) in broadcasting rights in 2024/25, the club received only €7m ($8.22m). This season, TV revenue will amount to only €3m ($$3.52m).
“These discrepancies represent a cumulative shortfall of nearly €30m (US$35.2m) over two fiscal years, which can only be offset through player sales in order to maintain budgetary and financial balance.”
While the LFP is aiming for 2.5-2.9 million Ligue 1+ subscribers over the next four years, revenue is entirely dependent on hitting subscription objectives, which can falter or increase over time.
Unlike other European football leagues, such as the Premier League who stand to make £6.7bn across the next four years as part of its new broadcast rights agreement, Ligue 1 is taking an unprecedented approach and is one that can only be judged by performance rather than consolidated income.
