The next turn in Ligue 1’s long broadcast-rights story is approaching. LFP Media is due to open a tender at the beginning of November for coverage of the French top flight from 2027, with clubs hoping the process can deliver both guaranteed income and a route back into the wider public conversation.
The move
The rights process will begin after two seasons in which Ligue 1 has been carried by Ligue 1+, the league-owned platform assembled rapidly in summer 2025. The channel’s production teams have earned praise for their work, but its reach has remained limited beyond committed football followers.
Ligue 1+ averaged about 1.1 million subscribers across last season, although its total had slipped below that mark by the closing weeks. LFP Media has stopped publishing subscriber figures in recent months.
The service generated roughly €150 million last season before mandatory deductions. Maxime Saada, Canal+’s president, described it in May as an editorial success but an economic failure.
For France’s 18 professional Ligue 1 clubs, the coming sale is therefore about more than choosing where matches will appear. Their leadership wants a broadcaster able to provide a minimum guaranteed payment, offering financial relief after a difficult sequence of media-rights deals.
One club president said Ligue 1 must again become an event. In his view, Ligue 1+ has been professionally run but has not persuaded the mainstream audience to pay, particularly viewers lost after the Mediapro collapse.
The French season around it
The tender will arrive while the current campaign is still under way, creating an awkward moment for Ligue 1+. Supporters may hesitate to take out subscriptions if the platform’s future beyond 2027 is unclear.
Broadcasters and club executives see visibility as the central issue. One French sports-channel executive argued that a mixture of free-to-air and subscription coverage could help promote the competition, with selected matches available without payment acting as a shop window for the paid product.
Ligue 1+ has benefited from broad distribution, allowing fans to access it through multiple routes. But there is also a belief that the championship needs exposure on an established television outlet, potentially on digital terrestrial television, where free broadcasts could reach large audiences.
European matches on Canal+ are viewed as an example of what can draw viewers: the Champions League carries its own appeal, but its editorial treatment is also considered a major strength. There is concern that Ligue 1+ has been too restrained in its coverage, with interviews failing to gain traction and too little strong on-air personality around the matches.
The argument is that modern subscribers want recognisable, opinionated voices to frame the build-up and aftermath of games, particularly when clips and debate travel quickly across social platforms.
The Ligue 1+ option
The next tender will include a possible arrangement in which a successful broadcaster takes exclusive distribution of Ligue 1+, rather than building its own editorial and production operation. Such a partner could use the league’s existing ready-made platform, while the Ligue 1+ teams would continue the project started last season.
That route has a clear attraction for a streaming service unwilling to create a newsroom or manage match production itself. Yet it would end the current broad-distribution model by placing Ligue 1 with one specific platform.
A French television acquisitions executive warned that, apart from the fee received, French football could find itself back in a position of limited audience exposure. The same executive said any bidder considering that model should closely examine production costs, where substantial savings may be possible.
There is no certainty that the November process will produce a bidder prepared to take on Ligue 1 rights. If nobody secures them through the tender, the league could instead move into direct negotiations with interested parties.
