Canal+ suspends football payments
March 31, 2020
By Chris Forrester
French pay-TV broadcaster Canal Plus has suspended its payments for French Ligue 1 top-flight football.
Canal+ has informed the French Professional Football League (LFP) that it is suspending the payment of broadcasting rights for the domestic Ligue 1, given the football matches have been suspended since March 13th, after the 28th day of the championship, due to the Coronavirus outbreak.
Canal+ has the right to broadcast three Ligue 1 games every week, and the indefinite suspension would adversely impact its advertising revenues.
According to a note from Deutsche Bank the news suggests that Canal+ had to pay €95 milion to the Football League by early April, which includes €35 million for games that were already transmitted.
The bank adds: “Canal+ is not the only one suspending payments; the Football League has also asked beIN Sport if it planned to meet the April deadline but the Qatari group has not yet responded. There is still a possibility that the remaining Ligue 1 games (10 days) could be played later in June/July given the Euro 2020 has been postponed to 2021, therefore it is still early to estimate the potential revenue and cost-saving impact.”