PSG may be France’s most successful club, but even the reigning European champions are concerned over the future of broadcast revenue in the country
Richard Heaselgrave, Chief Revenue Officer of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) has revealed the Champions League winners are diversifying its commercial strategy after admitting there are “challenges” with the current broadcast revenue from the Ligue 1 streaming service.
Speaking at the SportsPro Summit in Madrid (November 18-19), Heaselgrave acknowledged the new Ligue 1 direct-to-consumer (DTC) streaming service, Ligue 1+,
provides significantly less broadcast revenue than what clubs earned last year.
DAZN and the French Professional Football League (LFP) ended their four-year broadcast rights deal after just one year, which led to LFP Media establishing the dedicated Ligue 1 streaming service.
A report from L’Equipe in October 2025 revealed Ligue 1 clubs will share the $166m generated from subscriptions and carrying feed providers of Ligue 1+ this season. This is significantly lower than the $575m DAZN were paying the league before its deal was terminated.
This poses a financial challenge for Ligue 1 clubs and PSG is no exception. The club has been a dominant force in French football over the last decade, winning eight out of the last 10 Ligue titles and earning more revenue as a result.
And yet, Heaselgrave admitted the new streaming structure has forced the Parisian club to look to different avenues to generate revenue.
“Would we like more media rights money? Yes. But interestingly, this sets up an interesting question for all of us. Are we at the front of the train? We probably are,” said Heaselgrave.
“We’re in a league that domestically isn’t watched so much. Therefore, we’ve gone direct-to-consumer, which is doing a great job as a product. The question is whether it delivers as much money as the Premier League, which it clearly doesn’t.
“So is this a challenge? Yes. But is this a challenge for everyone coming down the line and any business which thinks the TV model from 30 years (ago) is the way to fund the business if you’re in sport?
PSG: the lifestyle brand
Heaselgrave has not shied away from the fact Ligue 1 is not watched as much as its European counterparts, such as the Premier League and La Liga, outside of France, which is why PSG have been bolstering its brand over the past decade.
One of the most successful partnerships has seen PSG and Air Jordan collaborate on apparel and merchandise, with the brand even manufacturing kits for the club.
Leveraging the cultural influence the Air Jordan brand has, PSG has been able to sell this collaborated apparel in international stores such as in London and New York to enhance its visibility with consumers who may not have been invested in the club before.
On top of the Air Jordan partnership, PSG also receives sponsorship revenue from Qatar Airways, Nike, GOAT, Visit Qatar and Crypto.com.
PSG has pushed itself to become a lifestyle brand as well as a football club.The Air Jordan partnership has helped propel the club’s standing in the US market, while its several Qatar-based sponsorships has made it a popular club in the Middle East..
“For a football club to be in the lives of people of any age in the future, you’ve really got to be in their lives,” said Heaselgrave. “If you’re just talking to football fans, that’s X per cent of the population. That’s not everybody.”
Heaselgrave revealed he and the club are thinking in the present and future when it pertains to attracting the attention of the younger generation of football fans, as well as leveraging its home of Paris to cultivate its lifestyle brand.
“All of this comes back to our positioning in Paris, and that therefore is how we see our growth across the world. If that kicks us into a lifestyle brand, it absolutely has to, and does that kick us into a global mindset? It absolutely has to,” added Heaselgrave.
“So it’s not a choice, it’s a necessity. Yes, PSG wants to be a lifestyle brand, yes we understand why, and we have to think globally.”
