The DAZN platform and the LFP have reached agreement to terminate their Ligue 1 broadcasting contract early. The British broadcaster now hopes to be at the heart of the future 100% Ligue 1 channel project.

After entering the French fanfare market in 2023, DAZN will terminate its contract with the Ligue de football professionnelle (LFP) five years before its initial term, scheduled for 2029. The agreement between the two parties provides for DAZN to pay compensation of EUR 100 million to exit the contract, in addition to the last two payments due this season, i.e. EUR 140 million in total.

This deal will be presented this Friday, May 2nd to the PSL Board of Directors for validation. DAZN has held eight Ligue 1 games per day, for an average annual amount of 375 million euros, with the ninth poster in the hands of beIN Sports.

“There is an option to exit the contract that binds us to the League because it wants to launch its channel project,” confirmed a DAZN spokesperson. However, the departure of DAZN does not necessarily mean the end of his French adventure. Indeed, the platform owned by billionaire Len Blavatnik wants to take part in the 100% Ligue 1 channel project that the LFP wants to launch next season.

DAZN is ready to invest a hundred million euros in this future channel, but there is a shock: if the LFP chooses to partner with DAZN for its channel, it will have to give up the €100 million compensation provided for in the release deal.

The final choice will come from Nicolas de Tavernost, newly appointed head of LFP Media, the Ligue’s commercial subsidiary. DAZN is optimistic: “Discussions with Nicolas de Tavernost are very constructive. He knows the sector well, and that’s a positive signal. »

In order for the channel 100% Ligue 1 to be born, the LFP will also have to reach an agreement with beIN Sports, which now holds the Saturday poster at 5 p.m. Negotiations are under way, and the Franco-Qatarian chain would be open to divest this box, particularly if it were associated with the technical implementation of the project.

The board of directors of the LFP should give Nicolas de Tavernost five weeks to probe the market and define the best partner. The project is ambitious, but risky: the Ligue would become its own broadcaster, a first in France.