This week, FC Chambly made two friendly matches, Thursday in front of Lens (0-2) and the next day against Amiens (1-1). But, in this period of international truce, the news of the round ball was almost more located behind the scenes than on the ground.
Mediapro, the new broadcaster for Ligue 1 and 2, has informed the Professional Football League (LFP) that it already wants to reduce the amount of TV rights, initially negotiated to the tune of around € 800 million. annual. A real shock wave for French football, whose clubs are extremely dependent on this financial windfall.
The resident of L 2, who announced a provisional budget of 7.25 M € including 4.8 of TV rights, is no exception to the rule. “I am very worried,” sighs Fulvio Luzi, the president. One thing is certain: what is happening does not correspond to what we were told. We were presented with the project with a bank guarantee, and assured that there would be no problem in the first year. However, we realize that this guarantee is that of a shareholder in China, whose reliability we can doubt. “” For a contract of such importance, it still seems light “, agrees the general manager, Thierry Bertrand.
Within the Camblysian staff, the content as the form does not pass. “Mediapro’s attitude is cavalier, tackle Fulvio Luzi. This company had nevertheless held a reassuring speech towards us at the start. So, announcing after two months of competition that she can no longer pay, that’s not good. It’s a stab in the back. “Especially since, like other professional clubs, FC Chambly is recording losses in terms of ticketing, shops, refreshments and sponsors, a consequence of the health crisis.
October installment should be secured
Since the start of the season, attendance at the Pierre-Brisson stadium in Beauvais has been more than halved compared to the average for the previous year, around 3,000 spectators. In this context, a drop in TV rights could be the blow too much, and even the coup de grace if certain drafts were not to be paid. “Without TV rights, we are dead, we will be in default and we file for bankruptcy in January,” confirms the president. This would take away more than 350,000 € per month, given the circumstances, where could we find them? I dare not imagine it, but I am careful. “
To deal with the most in a hurry, the LFP would have taken out a loan to ensure the payments of October, which the clubs are supposed to touch in the days to come. However, the sequence of events is much more nebulous, and Fulvio Luzi is preparing for any eventuality. “You have to be patient and see how things will evolve,” breathes the strong man of the FCCO. The LFP will not be able to take a loan every two months. So there is a big concern for the survival of French football. There are two solutions: either Mediapro uses its deposit, or it releases the partnership and another channel will recover the rights but at lower prices. In this case, it may be necessary to go through a renegotiation of the salaries of players and staff … “
In the meantime, discussions should take place between Mediapro and the LFP to save what can be saved. But the situation of the Spanish company, which deplores a lack of subscribers, does not encourage confidence. “Now who’s going to get a channel that could lose rights and go bankrupt? asks Thierry Bertrand. For me, Mediapro committed suicide live. In addition, the GM is worried that he still has not received the documents to be completed concerning the second version of the season’s budget, which he must send to the LFP on October 30. Another consequence, perhaps, of this terrible vagueness surrounding TV rights, the sinews of French football.
