Ligue 1 and the Landscape of Its Broadcasting Income in the Wake of COVID-19

With news of Téléfoot’s imminent shutdown owing to the dispute between parent company Mediapro and the Ligue du Football Professionnel (LFP), this article gives an overview into the intricacies of broadcasting rights in Ligue 1, how these rights ended up in the hands of Mediapro and what comes next following their default in broadcasting fee payments.

BROADCASTING INCOME: THE DISTRIBUTION

Under the current broadcast rights agreement with Mediapro and prior to it also, Ligue 1’s broadcasting income is distributed according to a 50-30-20 rule: 50%  is shared equally, with 30% of that being fixed and 20% according to club licenses. 30% is distributed according to league position, with 25% based on the current season and 5% based on the last five previous seasons.

The final 20% is then distributed according to media profile. This media profile is used to decide which clubs enjoy international rights revenue, which forms part of the final 20%, and it explains why PSG incurred 59.9million euros in revenue from broadcast rights in 2018/19 while Metz incurred 19.1m euros. PSG had either won Ligue 1 or finished 2nd in the prior six seasons to 18/19, and played in the UEFA Champions League consistently.