French soccer league asks gov’t for financial rescue plan – Winnipeg Free Press

French soccer league asks gov’t for financial rescue plan By: The Associated Press
Posted: 5:28 PM CST Tuesday, Feb. 9, Want more sports? Get news and notes from the local amateur sports scene in your inbox.
Subscribe to On the Home Front Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies , and CASL agreement . “The clubs have already made great efforts to adapt to this major drop in income, both through wage negotiations with players and reforms that the (league) is preparing to guarantee its future,” the league said.
“However, it is essential for the state to participate in helping professional clubs and their shareholders to overcome the emergencies that the COVID-19 crisis has created.”
Under the deal with Canal Plus, the broadcaster has exclusive rights for all first-division games and eight matches from the second division from the 25th round of matches starting this weekend. No financial details were given, but French reports said Canal Plus paid 200 million euros ($242 million) for the rest of the season.
The deal with Mediapro should have been worth more than 4 billion euros ($4.8 billion) over four years for the top two leagues but collapsed after just four months.
In December, the league was forced to terminate its contract with Mediapro, which created a new subscription channel called Telefoot to show matches but missed scheduled payments worth more than 324 million euros ($392 million) before the plug was pulled. Mediapro then agreed to pay 100 million euros ($121 million) in exchange for relinquishing its rights to games.