Maxime Saada, CEO of Canal. – XAVIER LEOTY / AFP
A new bonus season for Game of Thrones? No need when you already have “Games of the TV rights for the Franche Liguain”. After Friday’s new tragicomic episode, when club presidents opted to do it upside down at Canal a New Faith by choosing the Amazon package rather than that of the Canal-beIN alliance for a vaguely equivalent sum, Maxime Saada sent an internal email to explain why Canal had decided to withdraw from the game after the result of the call for tenders.
Towards a new trench warfare
“The lots which represent 80% of L1 matches, including the ten best posters, were sold for € 250 million to Amazon whereas they had been acquired by Mediapro in 2018 for € 784 million. The LFP wrongly considered that Amazon’s proposal was cumulative with the amounts of the prizes awarded in 2018, namely the € 332 million from Canal + and the € 42 million from Free for the digital prize. This scenario does not exist, ”writes the president of the encrypted channel. “Canal + will not pay € 332 million for 20% of the matches, when Amazon broadcasts 80% for € 250 million. We will therefore not broadcast Ligue 1. After the Mediapro chimera, the LFP and club presidents are therefore reproducing the same error as in 2018 ”.
This promises us more fun, especially since the famous lot 3 held by Canal is in fact subcontracted by beIN, which won in 2018. Consequence If Canal does not pay the bill, c It is in theory up to the Qatari group to do so, the LFP counting on the fact that Nasser Al-Khelaïfi will not drop the L1 like an old sock. The genius of Vincent Labrune is suddenly less obvious.