Ligue 1 opens bidding for ambitious 2027-32 broadcast rights deal

The French Professional Football League (LFP) has opened the tender for Ligue 1’s domestic audiovisual rights from 2027 to 2032, setting a December 3rd deadline for bids as it seeks to end a prolonged period of uncertainty over television income.

The process follows years of difficult rights negotiations, which have placed pressure on club revenues and produced deals below the league’s expectations.

For the first time, the LFP is offering all nine matches from each Ligue 1 round in a single package, using legislation that allows the competition’s rights to be marketed as one lot.

Potential partners can bid for the complete broadcast package or seek exclusive distribution rights for Ligue 1+, the channel owned by the league.

Ligue 1+ was launched in 2025 after the end of the league’s agreement with DAZN. It is showing every Ligue 1 match this season, after beIN Sports had previously retained the rights to one game per round.

“If we decided to test the market, it’s because we believe the environment is more favourable than in 2023,” LFP president Vincent Labrune told reporters.

“We will try to find the best combination of value, exposure and accessibility for our product. We’re approaching the process with relative serenity.”

The tender had originally been scheduled for the 2029-2034 cycle, but the LFP moved it forward after discussions with possible bidders.

“We realised that the interest was mainly in 2027-2032,” LFP media chief executive Olivier Bramly told Reuters.

“The platforms told us that this was the right time to do it for 2027-2032.”

Companies submitting offers must provide three elements: a financial proposal, a qualitative proposal and a financial guarantee mechanism.

The financial bid must exceed a confidential reserve price for the tender to succeed. The financial and qualitative aspects of each offer will then be considered together.

“The reserve price needs to be significantly above Ligue 1+’s projected trajectory. It’s ambitious, but not unrealistic,” Bramly said, adding that the figure was still being finalised.

“We have this comfort and this luxury because we have Ligue 1+, there’s no emergency.”

If no suitable offer is accepted, the LFP said it would continue expanding its own platform.

The league has held talks with about 10 potential partners and is especially targeting streaming companies. Bramly said digital platforms were showing strong interest in acquiring Ligue 1 rights.

Recent agreements have highlighted the increased appetite among streaming services for live sport. Disney+ has bought Spanish league rights in France, while Netflix has secured rights to the 2030 World Cup in Spain and Andorra.

“American platforms are reaching a bit more maturity in their thinking about sports content than they were two or three years ago, and that’s why we see the timing of this call for bids as much better,” Labrune said.

Bramly described the result of the tender as “very important for French football”. The outcome is due to be announced on December 4th.