The Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP), the governing body of French top-flight football, has initiated legal proceedings against DAZN. This action follows DAZN's threat to withhold a substantial €35 million payment related to its Ligue 1 TV rights contract. This amount represents half of the total sum owed to clubs under the agreement, according to L’Equipe.
“The LFP intends to firmly defend the interests of French professional clubs, while hoping for an amicable solution to this dispute, which it hopes will be temporary,” the LFP stated. DAZN attributes its financial difficulties to several factors, including the impact of piracy and what it perceives as insufficient cooperation from some clubs in promoting the Ligue 1 competition.
“It is not this procedure that will solve the problems to make the product attractive,” Brice Daumin, director of DAZN France, told AFP, highlighting that the LFP hadn't responded to previous attempts to discuss the issue. DAZN’s subscriber base in France is reportedly around 500,000, significantly below the anticipated 1.5 million at the season’s start.
The current contract, agreed upon last July, grants the LFP an annual €500,000, considerably less than its initial expectations for the 2024-2029 cycle. This deal, which includes a two-year exit clause for DAZN, followed a period of uncertainty regarding Ligue 1’s broadcaster, with the league even considering creating its own channel.