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With the exception of a few big departures, most notably Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid and Leny Yoro to Manchester United, it has been a quiet summer in transfer terms in French domestic football. Internationally, France reached the semi-finals of UEFA Euro 2024 two years after the 2022 World Cup final, illustrating the continued quality of Les Bleus’ seemingly limitless talent pool. However, Didier Deschamps’ side had a largely fruitless tournament, given their defensive approach, which attracted more criticism than praise. As Europe’s top leagues focus on business ahead of the new campaign, French professional football’s unprecedented off-season has underlined its vital status as part of the continental ecosystem. Despite an improved showing in UEFA competitions last season, things in France are more fragile than ever as Paris Saint-Germain and their domestic rivals look ahead with trepidation.
We look at exactly why things in Ligue 1 are much more difficult than ever.
Will PSG replace Kylian Mbappe?
There is still more than a month to go in this summer’s transfer window, so there is time for PSG to fill the Mbappe-sized void in their squad with an attacking talent with substantial star power. There is no comparable superstar name available as the Frenchman is considered by many to be the best player in the world and the problem is twofold. Mbappe is not only a loss for Qatar-backed PSG, but he is also a loss for Ligue 1 in terms of domestic and international image. The 25-year-old’s move to Real comes at the worst possible time for French football as television rights for Le Championnat were due to be renewed. Ranked fifth of Europe’s top five leagues, the self-styled League of Talents added Mbappe to departing stars Neymar and Lionel Messi and the result was a long and fruitless search for an improved broadcast package that never arrived. With such uncertainty, even if PSG had wanted to replace Mbappe, the financial situation created by domestic TV rights meant caution was needed – even in the capital.
Why is Ligue 1 so quiet this summer?
The situation is extremely simple. Professional club football in France is arguably more dependent on television rights revenue than any other top five league on the continent. Without certain broadcasting funds, the clubs in Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 would not be able to do anything in terms of transfers. No money trickled down from the top level to the second and sometimes third levels, meaning that until recently the main movement at French clubs was mainly departures such as Mbappé and Yoro. A few clubs have been busy taking fairly modest steps to rebuild their squads – many on free transfers – but it has been difficult to even sell players well while interested clubs have been aware of their precarious finances and their subsequent inability to replace those expenses.
Do French clubs now have a TV deal?
There is light at the end of the tunnel. After weeks without anything happening, a decision was recently made that should make the clubs some money in the short term. Beyond this short-term relief, there are also likely to be medium-term problems and the long-term crisis that has engulfed French football since the collapse of Mediapro, coupled with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even with an improved international rights deal and bigger sponsorship deals, France is further away from its European rivals than ever – especially the Premier League in England. Over the past five years, the value of television rights in Ligue 1 has shrunk massively, to reach a point where the value of television rights has now effectively bottomed out, just after the most bankable stars have left. With little expectation that this new deal will actually remain intact after three years – let alone its actual five-year duration – we expect to hear more about French football’s TV deal problems in the near future.
How bad is French football?
The financial situation of many French professional clubs is shocking. Published annually to the public by the DNCG, French football’s financial watchdog, very few clubs avoid taking heavy losses before trading players, and almost all rely on the money coming in to offset the outflow of talent. Game day revenue is also important, but this varies from club to club as not all fan bases are equally strong. It speaks volumes that despite private equity money in the form of CVC Partners through a deal with the French Professional Soccer League (LFP) that has bailed out clubs financially in recent years, many are still teetering on the brink of financial collapse after rising above have issued their stand. . Historic French club Girondins de Bordeaux could be declared bankrupt this week after a deal with Fenway Sports Group to save the club from freefall was not completed – partly due to the current state of French football, but also the cumulative impact of terrible ownership decisions at Matmut Atlantic.
Who is responsible?
Although the LFP and its president Vincent Labrune cannot be held responsible for years of mismanagement of a club like Bordeaux, who are now at the mercy of Gerard Lopez – a man known in the football world for his flirtation with financial oblivion – the television rights The mess is largely the league’s fault. Labrune and the LFP had years to initiate a bidding process that started too late and caused the European football television rights market to deteriorate before chasing a ridiculous sum of more than $1 billion per season. Without the international rights deal, France’s domestic rights are worth half that and the LFP’s handling of the situation has now led to a Senate investigation into the legality of the CVC deal and there was even a brief moment of blank screens whether an internal LFP channel was discussed. While that has been avoided, for now there is a good chance that there will be huge consequences for Labrune and the LFP for overseeing such a chaotic process.
What could this mean for the future of France?
Chances are that the situation in France will one day serve as an example to leagues looking at reduced television rights deals, and much of what has happened will show them what not to do. One thing that definitely won’t change, however, is that the Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 leagues will continue to sell off more talent than ever before they leave as a means for clubs to survive and make up for the missing broadcast fees they had previously budgeted for. Bigger clubs, such as Olympique de Marseille, need to overhaul their squads to become more competitive, with Roberto De Zerbi coming as a coup for OM and the league. However, the shine has taken some of the shine off Stade Velodrome with the hugely controversial signing of Mason Greenwood, while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is part of the wave of talent leaving Ligue 1 this summer.