It is not only Ligue 1 which is surveying the French broadcasters market this week. The Top 14 is launching a call for tenders for its broadcasting rights this Thursday. There is less urgency in the case of rugby than in that of football, since the National Rugby League (LNR) is looking for potential broadcasters for four seasons, from the 2023-2024 fiscal year. Until then, all the rights remain attributed to Canal + for 97 million euros per year, even if France Télévisions also broadcasts the championship final.
Three lots are offered to potential candidates, who have until March 1 to submit an application to the NRL: pack 1, including the shocks of the Top 14, the second choice each day, and all the finals matches in with the exception of one of the play-offs. Pack 2 contains this jump-off, the third choice each day, one of the semi-finals and the final. The third pack concerns the rights in quasi-direct, that is to say extracts of outstanding actions during the matches, and summaries at the end of the matches.
A prize similar to the one that the Professional Football League had awarded to Free in 2018. “It’s a novelty. It must make it possible to adapt to new uses of sports consumption, especially among young audiences, ”explains the director general of the LNR, Emmanuel Eschalier, to the Parisian.
Amazon requested
For its three lots, the League has set a reserve price of respectively 75, 27 and 3 million euros. The total would make him pass the symbolic milestone of 100 million for the first time in the history of French rugby. “We are aiming for a progression of rights, not a particular bar,” emphasizes Emmanuel Eschalier. The idea is to give yourself financial visibility on the cycle after the 2023 World Cup organized in France. We also want to anticipate the current season which promises to be complicated again with the closed doors in the stadiums which is prolonged. “
A contract with a broadcaster until 2026 would thus provide a guarantee to the League to seek other financing solutions. The file was sent to about fifteen potential broadcasters. Among them: classics such as Canal +, BeIN Sports or France Télévisions, of course, but also new players such as the digital giant Amazon. The name of which comes up more and more often in the current call for tenders of the LFP.
“The coincidence of the calendar wants these calls for tenders to be open at the same time, but they do not relate to the same cycles of rights (Editor’s note: that of the LFP goes until 2024), estimates Emmanuel Eschalier. These are two completely different files, we would not have launched our call for tenders if we felt that there could be competition between the two. “
