The president of Canal+, Maxime Saada, explains in the columns of The team Why the encrypted chain withdraws from the discussions to distribute the future L1 channel.
The Canal+ group renounces distributing the future channel of the Professional Football League, its president Maxime Saada announced on Friday evening, judging in an interview with The team that “Conditions are not met”. “We informed the League this Friday. It’s a missed meeting, Canal+ throws in the towel “explains the boss of the former historic partner of French football.
“We have chosen to give up. To date, we consider that the conditions are not met for Canal+ to distribute the new platform of the Ligue 1 “he continues, notably highlighting a disagreement with the French professional football body on the subscription price.
After the divorce in early May between the LFP and the Dazn streaming platform, which was the main broadcaster of Ligue 1 since the start of the 2024-25 season, the League has opted for the creation of a 100% L1 channel of which it will be the owner. Contacts had been established between LFP Media, the Commercial Company of the League, and the Canal+group, which had exposed a distribution offer of this future channel in a letter addressed to the body, had learned AFP in early June of sources close to the file, confirming information from the team.
Two scenarios were envisaged, which Maxime Saada confirms on Friday evening. The first proposed that Canal+, with a guaranteed minimum to be determined would be exclusive distributor of the chain. The encrypted channel wanted in this context Co-Diffuser 1 the Sunday evening poster. This exclusive distribution mandate, explains the group’s owner, “Make Canal+ the distributor of the new L1 channel on behalf of the League with all operators on the French market. In this case, we were obviously willing to pay a guaranteed minimum ”.
In the second, the group proposed to be a non-exclusive distributor, like all other market players, with the advantage of benefiting from a typing force in France without any municipality. “We estimated very quickly between 800,000 and 1 million subscribers to launch, just with Canal+”Assure Maxime to get.
20 euros is too high.
Maxime to get
An appointment was envisaged with Nicolas de Tavernost, former boss of M6 and the Girondins de Bordeaux who became the late April director of LFP Media. “It will not take place”decided Maxime Saada, who advances “The price of the subscription” as “The first subject of deep disagreement between us”. “It is difficult to see how to sell a chain which does not have the entire L1 the first year (eight matches out of nine per day) around 20 euros, as mentioned by the League. It’s too high “he said, Bein Sport holding the rights of a poster per day for the coming season at least.
On the other hand, he denies all “Enjoy revenge” From his group, which believes that it was ill -treated by French football after the bankruptcy of Mediappro, in 2021. The Amazon platform had then recovered 80% of the matches for 250 million euros per season when Canal+ paid 332 million for the two matches whose rights he held.
“The proposals we made demonstrate that there was no more animosity”he assures. On the other hand, Maxime Saada confirms having requested compensation for what he considers to be a prejudice. “I imagined for examplehe said, The possibility of co-directing the Sunday evening poster on a Canal+channel, without financial counterpart for one or two seasons, before a delivery on the market by the LFP. ”
The withdrawal of Canal+ comes at the evening of the presentation of the calendar of the 2025/26 Ligue 1 season, with a first day scheduled for the weekend of August 16-17. “There will be a Ligue 1 channel for resumption of the championship”promised Nicolas de Tavernost in an interview with AFP on June 11. “We work there. We will communicate on the way in which we will proceed at the end of June, since we must be ready for August 15, date of the resumption of the championship ”he added.
