Mediawan, the production-distribution powerhouse behind Plan B and See-Saw Films, has been tapped by the Professional League of Football (LPF) to produce all content for its new channel dedicated to the Ligue 1, France’s equivalent to the Premier League.
Through its sport division, Mediawan will produce the matches, as well as the magazines. Mediawan was well positioned to land this producer role as the group’s CEO, Pierre-Antoine Capton, is a soccer fan and co-owns the team SM of Caen with Kylian Mbappé.
The new director-to-consumer channel is operated by LFP Media, which is headed by Nicolas de Tavernost, the well respected former boss of M6, France’s second biggest commercial channel. Priced at 14.99 euros per month, the service will broadcast eight matches per day live starting on Aug. 9, with the ninth, owned by beIN Sports, airing the Qatari channel until the end of the 2025-2026 season.
Ligue 1 has gone through a rocky couple years after parting ways with its historic pay TV partner Canal+, and falling out with British streamer DAZN. The latter had a five-year contract worth €400 million per year and withheld half of its payment for the first season, pointing to low subscriber numbers. After a long legal spat, DAZN came to an agreement with LFP to land non-exclusive rights to the nine matches of the Ligue 1 championship. DAZN has also been ordered by a French court this week to pay the LPF an indemnity of €85 millions d’euros for anticipated breach of contract.
Those recent struggles have led the French Professional League to shake up its structure and become an entity owned by French clubs and private equity, following the successful model of the Premier League.
In spite of those challenges, French soccer is currently on a high after Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) beat Real Madrid in the semi-final of the FIFA World Cup with 4-0. PSG will next face Chelsea during the final on Sunday.
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