In 2018, Mediapro landed with a bang in the French TV rights landscape by offering itself for a record amount (780 million euros per season for L1 and 34 million for L2) most of L1 and L2 to the chagrin of Canal + which then lost its family jewels. Today, the Sino-Spanish group holds the future of French football in its hands after refusing to pay the second installment of its contract (in the order of 172 M €), initially scheduled for October 5, and even demanded a renegotiation of downward TV rights.
A situation which greatly annoyed the LFP which badly needed this money to redistribute them to professional clubs in Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. The professional football league (LFP) had to contract a new loan on October 15 to make up for the delay payment of Mediapro and decided to counter-attack by putting Mediapro on formal notice to pay, threatening to turn to other broadcasters. An untenable situation for Mediapro which decided to break the silence by organizing a press conference this Wednesday morning at the Pavillon Dauphine in Paris which had refueled for the occasion.
In front of more than forty journalists, the boss of the Sino-Spanish group first put the project into context, indicating in particular that he did not feel that he had overpaid the rights of Ligue 1 and of Ligue 2. “We won a call for tenders 2 years ago, this call for tenders was not overpaid in comparison with other countries and other leagues in Europe. For us it was and is a fair price. At that time, we did not have Chinese associates. They came after the win in the tender, it’s important to say. It was a project for four years and not for a season. It wasn’t a profitable project from the first season. We had done our market research on the situation. We knew very well the actual number of football subscribers among French operators at Canal, BeIN and among others, ”he explained before indicating that he had launched a conciliation process with the LFP. “You have to have confidence in the conciliation process. I do not see why we would not find solutions. The contract is to last. We have that will. The only thing we ask is to adapt to the situation for this season. I can’t believe we’re not gonna make it. Our requests concern this season impacted by the Covid. “
A conciliation process that could call into question the next deadline scheduled for December
This conciliation process was chosen to find financial and legal solutions adapted to this unprecedented situation, to say the least, and thus settle the dispute between the two parties. It can last several weeks and can go up to four months, moreover indicated the lawyer of Médiapro present for the occasion. “This conciliation process can last four months, and the success rate of its discussions is very high, which is why we have chosen this solution and why we are very confident about its favorable outcome. Our request for conciliation only concerns this season which is affected by the Covid. We will see where the negotiations take us. ” Relaunched several times on the supporters of this conciliation, Jaume Roures remained evasive, indicating on several occasions the confidential side of the process. Regarding the payment of future installments, no strong announcement here again, Roures still hiding behind the famous conciliation and wishing to find a reasonable solution. However, he could not guarantee that there would be the payment of the next due date scheduled for next December. “I want to stress that we are not outside the payment deadlines. We will respect what results from the negotiations. Now we cannot say that there is a deadline in December. We have to wait for the conciliation process. Everything is on the table to find a solution to find a solution that will allow French football to be perfectly broadcast. “ Understand, the next installment could be suspended on the decision of the conciliation process which could happen only … in 2021. A hell of a headache ahead for the French professional clubs and for the LFP who more than need this sum to replenish their crates.
One thing is certain, he intends to keep Mediapro and the Telefoot channel afloat for the next four seasons. “We stick to this project. It is obvious that COVID has affected football, the Covid has affected all of society. The football TV audiences went down even if one might think at first that the lack of audience in the stadium could encourage subscriptions, but it did not happen like that. And what nobody could foresee at that time the social and financial effects of the Covid. “ Obviously, the situation is difficult, but the boss of Mediapro wants to stay the course despite the difficulties and the precarious financial context in the face of COVID that he has not been to highlight every time he had it. ‘opportunity. “We are aware that this situation does not suit anyone. This puts us all in difficulty. For the search for funding, it is worse, for having subscriptions it is worse. But I don’t see why we couldn’t find a solution. We have to adapt to this situation. We want to adapt this season to this situation. We believe there is a subscriber base to support the project. I don’t want to tell myself that we can’t get out of this. “
600,000 subscribers to La Chaine Telefoot
If he admitted to being far from the objective of 3 million subscribers, the boss of the Sino-Spanish group gave some details on the number of subscribers of the channel and disputed the figure of 200,000 subscribers which had leaked in the media. “200,000 subscribers? We have a lot more than 200,000 subscribers. But we built a theory on it. We are around 600,000 subscribers. We never said that we wanted to be at 3 million in the first year because it is a 4-year project. We couldn’t aspire to that at any time. “ If Roures was delighted with the deal signed with Netflix and Apple, which brought him back its largest source of subscribers, the latter also took stock of the negotiations with Canal +, which obviously hinders him in his objective of subscribers. “We tried to find an agreement with Canal from the start. We spoke with them for months last year. We are still in negotiations with them. But I don’t know how it will end. There is no agreement, but we are open to an agreement with them. “
In the end, few announcements were made during this long-awaited press conference. But Mediapro and its Telefoot channel have saved time, even if this will hardly improve its image. If Jaume Roures is perfectly confident, he nevertheless invited fans of Ligue 1 to follow the French championship on his channel. “All this noise is not good. You cannot control everything, but I have come to assure that Telefoot will continue. I invite all those who want to follow Ligue 1 to come to the Telefoot Channel. “ Not sure that this ubiquitous situation which puts French football in a hell of a crisis is the best publicity there is …
