Facebook, Amazon talk to LFP about Ligue 1 rights

The Ligue de Football Professionnel, which operates the French football league, has held talks with Facebook and Amazon over its next cycle of media rights, according to the organisation’s director general, Didier Quillot.

Quillot confirmed the development in a press conference yesterday (Thursday).

However, at the same press conference, LFP president Nathalie Boy de la Tour said that no decision had been taken yet about when to launch the tender process for the rights beyond the 2019-20 season.

Last month the league announced that it would delay launching the sales process until 2018.

According to reports, the auction for the four seasons from 2020-21 to 2023-24 will take place in the first quarter of the New Year.

It was originally thought that the rights would be put on the market before the end of this year, with the LFP keen to take advantage of competition between broadcasters following the introduction of pay-television broadcaster SFR Sport.

However, the league’s incumbent rights-holders – pay-television broadcasters Canal Plus and beIN Sport, as well as SFR Sport – had asked for the auction to be delayed until 2018.