In a letter sent to the LFP, the sports television channel announced that it would suspend its payments until the resumption of the championships.
Less than a week after Canal +’s decision, beIN Sports followed suit. In a letter addressed to Didier Quillot, the director general of the Professional Football League holder of the rights of the championships of L1 and L2, Yousef al-Obaidly, the president of BeIn Sports, indicates that his group will not proceed to the payment of 32 million euros due on April 5 for TV rights, which he has on the L1 and L2 matches.
The president of beIn Sports specifies that his group will resume his payments at the resumption of the championships and asks the LFP to kindly indicate to him the measures taken for the continuation of the championship this season, and the resumption of the next season. Because beIn Sports obtained part of the matches for the 2020-2024 seasons, and sub-licensed them to Canal +, which will market the beIn Sports offers. However today, due to the prolongation of confinement in France, nobody is able to know when the competitions will resume this season. And if the clubs are not paid, nobody knows under what condition the next season will resume on August 8, 2020.
beIn Sports explains that it made its decision independently of that of Canal +. But, like all the other sports rights broadcasters in the world, such as Sky and ESPN, beIn Sports takes the decision to suspend payments for matches that are not delivered to it. The group explains that this is perfectly legal under the contract signed with the Professional Football League.
Old matches
In the absence of live football matches, the pay channel is currently broadcasting old matches as well as other programs such as esports competitions. However, this programming is likely to displease its 3.5 million subscribers who come mainly to follow the L1 and L2 championships. The channel acknowledges that it may face subscription cancellations in the coming weeks.
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