This is the month that the football world wondered how the consortium hispano-chinese Mediapro was going to broadcast the matches of League 1, he has captured the essential rights for 780 million euros for seasons 2020-2024 beard, of Canal+, beIN Sports and RMC Sport. But his boss, Jaume Roures, balked at revealing his cards. Just had appointed in the summer of 2019, an executive director, Julien Bergeaud, who came to Discovery-Eurosport.
If it is a recognized professional, her profile is not as prestigious as that of Charles Biétry, the former director of sports of the encrypted string, to be recruited by the Qatari to launch in just a few months beIN Sports, in 2012. Since then, Mediapro was statements dropper. Last December, the group had wanted to reassure the football League after failing to regain the rights to the champions League for France. “We will make a chain 100 % French football. A chain of sport but also of entertainment “, said Jaume Roures. The string must distribute 80 % of the meetings of League 1 and eight meetings by day of Ligue 2.
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Yet, the weeks passed. If the small media bruissait rumours that some consultants sports channels, such as RMC Sport, such as Willy Sagnol, or Christophe Dugarry, left their employer, there was no poaching, large-scale view, including consultants, sports are vital for the success of a new channel. During the containment and the shutdown of the League 1 in march, the founder of Mediapro had just held to ensure that the crisis of the Covid-19 would not “change anything” at the launch of the new channel in France.
“Téléfoot is not an old brand,”
Finally, Mediapro kicks in with a curious sharing agreement trademark and editorial partnership, production and talent with TF1 around Téléfoot, its flagship program on the round ball. The future of the chain, which should be available from August, will be called, therefore, Téléfoot. A unique partnership, which in particular implies that the two presenters are the stars of the A, Grégoire Margotton and the ex-world champion Bixente Lizarazu, comment on 20 of the most beautiful posters of the Ligue 1 season on Sunday evening. There will be a sharing of the means of production for the magazines before-and after-matches of league 1 and League 2, including Mediapro also owns the bulk of the rights. In this respect, the consortium hispano-chinese will pay to TF1 several million euros per year.
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At the press conference, Jaume Roures refuses to disclose the amount of the transaction. “Téléfoot is a brand that is very, very strong, a program installed for more than forty years on the French television. [… ] Téléfoot is not an old brand but a brand in the traditional and very current “, is happy there. “Téléfoot has reinvented itself in particular on the digital. His awareness rate is over 83 %, with more than 4 million of fans, especially young people, 220 million views and 20 million subscribers on YouTube “, abounds Julien Bergeaud, director-general of Mediapro. “We joined with TF1 on the way in which we wanted to treat the football with values unifying “, he adds.
TF1 leaps in Stock market
For TF1, the operation seems to be very advantageous : it capitalizes on Téléfoot, which the brand waned over the loss of the rights to the championship and survived especially in recent years, thanks to the rights of the matches of the Blue, and is about to touch a beautiful fortune. In addition, investors have welcomed the ” deal “. The share jumped over 7 % Monday on the Paris stock Exchange, to 11 hours.
The fans of the round ball will nevertheless need to keep a cool head to understand what they’re watching. The magazine Téléfoot on TF1 will continue to be broadcast every Sunday from 11 a.m. to noon.It will rely in particular on the rights of the team of France held by the group chaired by Gilles Pélisson. But a second magazine Téléfoot of Mediapro will be broadcast from noon to 13 hours with even more exclusive images of the Ligue 1, in which the group has the rights to it. “This will be the drafting of Téléfoot who will prepare, but it will be presented by a personality other than Grégoire Margotton “, accurate to the Point François Pellissier, the patron saint of sports for TF1. On the other hand, it indicates that a broadcast of some games in the clear by one of the strings of the galaxy TF1 (TF1 and TMC) remains ” excluded “, because of the contract between Mediapro and LFP.” This is a very nice recognition and a source of great pride to be able to get our brand Téléfoot that has existed for 43 years. The perfect illustration that there can be partnerships between the clear and the pay on the sport. I have no fear on Mediapro, an international player, recognized, that is not a beginner in football. I trust them to make this new channel a success, ” he says.
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However, most of the details of the transaction were not disclosed. For example, Mediapro and TF1, will join forces for the advertising agency according to terms still under negotiation. The distribution agreements will not be released, them, as in ” ten days to two weeks “. One can imagine an agreement privileged with Bouygues Telecom, subsidiary of the Bouygues group, in which TF1 belongs to. Finally, the name of the consultants of Mediapro is not known.
A subscription is around 25 euros
The first objective of Mediapro is to attract 3.5 million subscribers. “If it is 4 million, we will be more happy,” admitted Jaume Roures. The founder of the group hispano-chinese has not unveiled any price. In the beginning of the year, the group’s management were talking about a subscription for the channel Téléfoot around 25 euros per month. “A string of 25 euros per month, it is a cheap price for access to the League 1. And it is in accordance with the rights tv paid for to the professional football League. “
BeIN Sports, however, is available today at a price of 15 euros per month… And remains to be seen whether, in the context of the health crisis and challenges of the bars and restaurants broadcasting the football matches, Mediapro will be able to seduce massively. The trials and tribulations of RMC Sport and beIN Sport have shown that the business of football show can be tricky. In short, an equation complicated and still a lot of unknowns.
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