With the exception of a few major departures, notably Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid and Leny Yoro to Manchester United, it has been a quiet summer so far in French domestic soccer transfer-wise. Internationally, France reached the UEFA Euro 2024 semifinals two years on from the 2022 World Cup final which illustrated the continued quality of Les Bleus’ seemingly limitless talent pool. However, Didier Deschamps’ side endured a largely fruitless tournament given their defense-first approach which earned more criticism than praise. Now that Europe’s top leagues are focusing on doing business ahead of the new campaign, French professional soccer’s unprecedented offseason has underlined its vital status as part of the continental ecosystem. Despite an improved showing in UEFA competitions last term, things are more fragile than ever in France as Paris Saint-Germain and their domestic rivals look ahead with trepidation.
We look at exactly why things are much tougher than ever in Ligue 1.
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Will PSG replace Kylian Mbappe?
There is still more than one month to go in this summer’s transfer window so there is time for PSG to fill the Mbappe-sized void in their squad with an attacking talent of substantial star power. There is no comparable superstar name readily available given that the Frenchman is considered by many to be the best player in the world and the issue is twofold. Not only is Mbappe a loss for Qatar-backed PSG, but he is also a loss for Ligue 1 in terms of its image domestically and internationally. The 25-year-old’s move to Real has come at the worst possible time for French soccer as the television rights for Le Championnat came up for renewal. As the fifth of Europe’s top five leagues, the self-branded League of Talents added Mbappe to departing stars Neymar and Lionel Messi and the result was a long and fruitless search for an improved broadcast package which never arrived. With such major uncertainty, even if PSG had wanted to replace Mbappe already, the financial situation created by the domestic TV rights meant that caution was required — even in the capital.
Why is Ligue 1 so quiet this summer?
The situation is extremely simple. Professional club soccer in France is arguably more dependent on television rights monies than any other top five league on the continent. Without certain broadcast funds, the clubs across Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 could not do anything transfer-wise. No money trickling down from the topflight into the second and sometimes third tiers has meant that the main movement concerning French clubs up until very recently was mainly departures such as Mbappe and Yoro. A few clubs have been busy making reasonably modest moves to rebuild their rosters — many with free transfers — but it has been hard to even sell players well with interested clubs aware of their precarious finances and their subsequent inability to replace those outgoings.
Do French clubs now have a TV deal?
There is light at the end of the tunnel. After weeks without anything in place, a decision was taken recently which should bring some short-term money to the clubs. Beyond that short-term relief, though, there are likely to be medium-term issues and the long-term crisis that has been engulfing French soccer since the collapse of Mediapro coupled with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even with an improved international rights deal and bigger sponsorship deals, France is further away from its European rivals than ever — especially the Premier League in England. In the past five years, Ligue 1’s television rights value has shrunk massively to reach this point where it has now essentially bottomed out just after its most bankable stars have moved on. With little expectation that this new deal will actually remain intact beyond three years — let alone its actual duration of five — expect to hear more about French soccer’s TV deal woes in the near future.
How down bad is French soccer?
The financial state of many of France professional clubs is shocking. Published for public viewing on a yearly basis by the DNCG, French soccer’s financial watchdog, precious few clubs avoid making heavy losses before player trading and almost all clubs are reliant upon the money coming in to compensate the outflow of talent. Gameday revenue is also important but that varies from club to club given that not all fanbases are of equal strength. It speaks volumes that despite private equity money in the form of CVC Partners via a deal with France’s Professional Soccer League (LFP) bailing clubs out financially over the past few years, many are still teetering on the brink of financial meltdown after spending above their means. Historic French club Girondins de Bordeaux could be declared bankrupt this week after a deal to save the club from freefall was not completed with Fenway Sports Group — partly owing to the current state of French soccer but also the accumulated impact of horrendous ownership decisions at Matmut Atlantique.
Who is responsible?
Although the LFP and its president Vincent Labrune cannot be blamed for years of mismanagement of a club like Bordeaux who now find themselves at the mercy of Gerard Lopez — a man known in the soccer world for his flirtations with financial oblivion — the TV rights mess is very much the fault of the league. Labrune and the LFP had years to start a bidding process which got underway too late and allowed the European soccer television rights market to deteriorate before chasing a ludicrous sum in excess of $1 billion per season. Without the international rights deal, France’s domestic rights are worth half of that and the LFP’s handling of the situation has now sparked a Senate investigation into the legality of the CVC deal and there was even a brief moment where blank screens or an in-house LFP channel was being debated. Although that has been avoided, for now, the chances are that there will be huge consequences for Labrune and the LFP for overseeing such a shambolic process.
What could this mean for France’s future?
The chances are that the situation in France will one day serve as a case study for leagues looking at decreased television rights deals and much of what has happened will show them what not to do. One thing that will absolutely not change, though, is that Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 will remain selling leagues with more talent than ever before leaving as a means for clubs to survive and offset the missing broadcast monies that they previously budgeted with. Bigger clubs, such as Olympique de Marseille, are having to overhaul their squads in order to become more competitive with Roberto De Zerbi coming in as a coup for OM and the league. The shine has been somewhat taken away from Stade Velodrome with the hugely controversial signing of Mason Greenwood, though, while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is part of the wave of talent leaving Ligue 1 this summer.
