Ligue 1 opens 2027-32 rights tender as streamers weigh football's price

Ligue 1 opens a five-year tender

The LFP is offering one package that covers all nine matches from each Ligue 1 round. Legislation lets it market the rights as one lot. Bidders can take the full broadcast rights or exclusive distribution of the league-owned Ligue 1+ channel.

For French clubs, the tender is a chance to close years of broadcast uncertainty that squeezed revenues. The winner decides where all nine matches per round appear and what viewers pay. The league has set a confidential reserve price. It can fall back on Ligue 1+ if bids disappoint, so it limits the downside but also the upside.

The process follows a prolonged television rights saga that squeezed club revenues. It also follows a series of negotiations that fell short of expectations.

Ligue 1+ launched in 2025, after the league's deal with DAZN ended. It carries every Ligue 1 match this season. beIN Sports had previously retained one match per round. The LFP says it has held talks with about 10 potential partners. It is keenest on streaming companies. Olivier Bramly, the league's media chief executive, said digital platforms were showing strong interest in the rights. Vincent Labrune, the LFP president, said the league moved the timetable forward after sounding out bidders. "If we decided to test the market, it's because we believe the environment is more favourable than in 2023," Labrune told reporters.

Bids are due on 3 December. The LFP says it will announce the outcome on 4 December.

DAZN keeps buying rights despite losses

DAZN is the clearest case of a streamer paying up while losing money. Martin Javier Pardo heads broadcasting rights for the Iberian region at DAZN. He will speak at the 2026 Sports Industry Global Conference in Seoul on 13 November. He spent about seven years at LALIGA before joining the platform, including a stint as its delegate for Central America. His session title is "The era of OTT sports broadcasting: the sports broadcasting rights market and content business strategy".

DAZN's 2025 accounts showed operating losses widening from $772.9m to $939.8m. That came even with more than 300 million registered users.

Pardo's session will examine the growth of OTT platforms. It will also cover the commercial value of sports content and competition strategies among digital platforms.

The company paid $1bn for global rights to the first 32-team Club World Cup in the US last year. That bid effectively bankrolled Fifa's prize fund. Chelsea, the winner, took home about $114m. DAZN has now secured an exclusive option on global streaming rights for the 2029 edition. The value of that option, and the point at which it must be triggered, has not been disclosed.

The 2029 tournament is the second edition of a competition Fifa designed as a major money spinner. It remains fraught with political problems.

The NFL shows the price direction

The NFL is asking Paramount Skydance for a rights fee increase north of 50-60 percent, according to CNBC's Alex Sherman. He described that range as the midpoint between the league's ask and the current offer. CBS, part of Paramount Skydance, pays $2.1bn a year now. A 50 percent rise would push it past $3bn. Sports Media Watch reported that new fees would start as soon as any deal closes. Renewals will be negotiated one by one, Paramount first and then Fox.

The league has also been moving games around. FOX and NBC each received one of the four windows ESPN gave up as part of its deal to acquire NFL Network, Sports Media Watch reported.

The four ex-ESPN windows were originally expected to form the bulk of a five-game package. That package also included the league's new International Series game from Australia.

Lachlan Murdoch, the Fox chief executive, said on an earnings call that his new windows would include a Week 10 International Series game from Munich. It will air in an early morning slot as part of a FOX tripleheader. That is the first on a single broadcast network since 2016. Fox's second new window is a Saturday game in Week 15. NBC said its extra game is a Saturday fixture in Week 17, leading into its annual Peacock-exclusive game. CBS said its added window will run in primetime on the Saturday of Week 15. That creates a split-network doubleheader with Fox on 19 December.

The NFL faces a federal investigation into its rights deals with streaming companies. Sports Media Watch reported that Fox Corporation cheerled the probe and possibly sparked it.

What is still unknown

The Ligue 1 reserve price is confidential. The league is still finalising it. Bramly said it needs to be significantly above Ligue 1+'s projected trajectory. He called it ambitious but not unrealistic. If the tender fails, the league said it would keep developing its in-house platform.

Bidders must submit a financial proposal by 3 December. They must also submit a qualitative proposal and a financial guarantee mechanism by the same date.

Fifa's 2029 Club World Cup is less settled. Fifa has made no decisions on venues, format or size, despite long-running talks with clubs about expanding to 48 teams. Pardo's Seoul appearance on 13 November falls three weeks before the Ligue 1 bid deadline.

Neither the value of the 2029 Club World Cup option nor the Ligue 1 reserve price is public. No one can compare the two auctions on price.