French Ligue 1 clubs vote to break TV deal with DAZN
Ligue 1's domestic broadcast deal with DAZN only started this season and is due to run until 2029 (Valery HACHE)
French Ligue 1 clubs on Tuesday voted in favour of breaking their domestic television deal with DAZN at the end of this season, leaving them facing an uncertain future.
The broadcaster rejected a proposal from the league, whose clubs voted for the large part in favour of ending the deal after the breakdown in relations between the two parties.
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The decision by the clubs plunges the league deeper into a crisis which has been ongoing for several years, since Spanish company Mediapro pulled out of a record broadcast deal in 2020, just months after it came into effect.
The DAZN deal was only agreed last July, a couple of weeks ahead of this season starting, with the British streaming platform replacing previous rights holders Canal Plus and Amazon.
DAZN has been showing eight out of nine Ligue 1 matches per week, with Qatar's beIN Sports broadcasting the other game, for the total combined price of 500 million euros ($564m) annually.
That represented a significant reduction from the previous deal, worth 624 million euros a year.
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DAZN is due to pay 400 million euros per year, with the contract in place until 2029, but the agreement allows either party to back out at the end of next season.
The French league (LFP) said in a statement that it expected its broadcast partner "to continue to carry out all of its obligations" for the time being.
It said that mediation between the parties, which started last month, had not enabled them to find a solution to their differences.
DAZN was late in paying an instalment of 35 million euros at the beginning of this year and is due to pay two more instalments worth a total of 140 million euros, at the end of this month and in June.
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- Compensation -
The league voted in favour of breaking the contract and proposing a financial compensation package to DAZN, of 140 million euros at the end of the season and between 110-125 million euros for next season, sources with knowledge of the discussions told AFP.
That proposal was turned down by DAZN, which is seeking some 573 million euros from the LFP for what it sees as not fulfilling the obligations of their contract.
DAZN is understood to only have around 500,000 paying subscribers to its Ligue 1 coverage and blames the league for not doing more to block illegal streaming sites.
It also says certain clubs have not cooperated in helping them make their product more attractive, for example by blocking requests for access.
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The situation leaves the clubs, already in a fragile position financially, facing up to a difficult future.
They are dependent on income from television, but have no clear idea what that income will be for the foreseeable future.
Fans, meanwhile, do not know for certain how they will be able to watch matches after the end of this season.
The French league's domestic broadcast deal is worth considerably less than its major European rivals, most notably the English Premier League.
Certain clubs have pushed for the league to set up its own streaming service, although one source close to the discussions acknowledged that would offer very little guaranteed income initially.
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