Quality but not quantity! The announcement, at the end of November, that Canal + would retain full TV rights for the European Cups, including the prestigious Champions League, for the period 2027-2031 seemed to be a bad signal for discussions concerning the broadcast of Ligue 1 matches. An impression confirmed by Maxime Saada himself.
This Tuesday, the boss of Canal +, in an interview with Le Figaro, confirmed that he was not interested in the matches of the French Football Championship.
“Is Canal + intended to have everything, or simply the best? he asks himself. We have decided to have the best in sport, in series, in films. The scores in the Champions League are incommensurable with those in Ligue 1. Last season, the PSG-Arsenal match was followed by 4.1 million subscribers! »
The boss of Canal + also takes the opportunity to take a swipe at the Professional Football League (LFP) with which he has been in open conflict since 2020 and the Mediapro fiasco.
“Obviously, Ligue 1 is an important program for the French and historically linked to Canal +,” continues Maxime Saada. We tried all summer to find an agreement. But if the Football League (LFP) doesn’t want to work with us, it becomes complicated. I’m not going to force them. We are the actor who needs it the least! When I see the way this League treats BeIN Sports, its main financier, it really doesn’t make me want it. »
The Ligue 1 + platform, created this summer by LFP Media, the commercial subsidiary of the LFP, announced this week that it would recover the Saturday poster at 5 p.m., previously broadcast by BeIN, from the start of the next school year. A decision which will allow Ligue 1 + to broadcast all nine Ligue 1 matches per day, compared to eight this season.
The arrival of Nicolas de Tavernost at the head of LFP Media this summer had however opened the door to a reopening of discussions concerning Ligue 1 TV rights with Canal +. Close to an agreement, the two parties are said to have ended discussions due to a financial conflict lasting several years.
