France: estimated annual broadcasting rights fees of Ligue 1 2009-2019

For years now, the estimated annual broadcasting rights fees of the Ligue 1 championship in France is increasing. During the 2018/2019 season, the Ligue 1 was expected to earn more than 850 million euros from broadcasting rights fees. However, despite this increase, the Ligue 1 keeps being the European football league with the lowest revenue from broadcasting rights.

The money gap of the French Ligue 1

The French league has the lowest revenue for of all the Big Five European football leagues (Premier League, Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1). In 2017, the Ligue 1 had a turnover of 1.49 billion euros, compared to 4.87 billion euros for its British counterparts, the Premier League. With football clubs having less money, the French championship does not attract a lot of famous players. Only Paris Saint-Germain football club, which is owned by the State of Qatar since 2011, seems to have the capacity to lure and keep top players like Kylian Mbappé or Edinson Cavani. Consequently, the club from the French capital city represented the highest revenue coming from television rights during the 2017/2018 Ligue 1 season.

The image of the Ligue 1

The Ligue 1 sometimes seems to suffer from a bad image. In 2018, a majority of French people declared that they thought that the league was very boring. Simultaneously, only 11 percent of football fans in England were interested in the French championship. The supremacy of the PSG over other clubs appears to have altered the suspense of the championship. However, despite this, France is the home of football clubs with a long history and devoted fans, like the Olympique de Marseille football club or Lyon’s team.