UK fans of top-tier French soccer’s Ligue 1 have been given a lifeline in terms of watching that competition, through a launch of a new streaming platform.
French soccer’s LFP league body confirmed on Friday (August 23) that every Ligue 1 game will be shown on the Ligue 1 Pass platform, to fans in the UK and Republic of Ireland.
This announcement has come following the failure of Ligue 1 and the various UK sports broadcasters to come to an agreement over linear rights for the 2024-25 season (which got underway earlier this month).
During the last rights cycle, the TNT Sports pay-TV broadcaster held Ligue 1 rights. However, following the departure of French superstar Kylian Mbappe (formerly of Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain) to Spanish giants Real Madrid, interest in the property has declined.
The LFP has said it will “continue to work with the various organizations involved to promote Ligue 1 Pass” in the UK and Ireland.
Ligue 1 Pass has been developed by the LFP with the help of Endeavor Streaming, the provider which is a subsidiary of media and entertainment giant Endeavor.
A web version of Ligue 1 Pass was made available in advance of the weekend’s Ligue 1 games, while a mobile app version is set to go live in time for Round 4 of the 2024-25 season.
Aside from the live action, Ligue 1 Pass will cover “a wide variety of original content produced specifically for the platform.”
The LFP has said this news follows on from “a range of constructive conversations with both free and subscription-based broadcasters in the region.”
TNT Sports dropping Ligue 1 from its soccer portfolio was first reported earlier this month, after the broadcaster (formerly BT Sport) had held rights since 2013.
Over the last few weeks, the LFP has been frantically attempting to complete its broadcast rights jigsaw for the next cycle.
Joint five-season domestic rights deals with DAZN (the main rights-holder) and BeIN Sports were only put in place in late July, following a lengthy saga of multiple missed tender deadlines.
The total value of those deals (over the five seasons) has been reported as $2.16 billion.
A rights tie-up with BeIN has also been unveiled across the US, Canada, Turkiye, and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) through 2028-29.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, meanwhile, Canal Plus will continue to cover the 18-team Ligue 1.
Ligue 1 is not the only European men's soccer league to have struggled to land overseas rights partners for a new cycle beginning this season - Italy’s Serie A has also found life difficult, and has similarly had to wait until the last month to bring in partners for key territories.
