Experts criticise LFP's handling of Mediapro situation following failure of rights auction meant to bring stability: "It's never a good idea to do things in panic"
3 February 2021
Former Discovery and Eurosport chief says France's football league should have waited with a new rights tender until the situation calms down.
The failed auction could send clubs further towards bankruptcy with the French government unlikely to step in.
Canal+ could be persuaded to retake the rights but the broadcaster currently has the upper hand in negotiations.
A lack of competitiveness on the broadcasting market will likely drive down TV rights deals in the coming period.
Panic. Mess. Self-destruction. Desperate. Survival mode.
Those are just some of the words and expressions several experts use to describe the situation the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) is in. A situation, they say, the league has brought on itself.
Last year's termination of cash strapped Mediapro's broadcasting deal with the French league continues to act as a snowball effect on the country's top two divisions.
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