BeIN Sports sues Ligue 1 for €29m contract breach

BeIN Sports has taken the gloves off with LFP Media, filing a €29 million legal claim that once again throws French football’s TV rights into the spotlight.

At the heart of the row are restrictions on which Ligue 1 games BeIN can show. The Qatari broadcaster insists these rules were dropped in after it had already submitted its bid, dramatically reducing the value of the deal. As a result, BeIN held back part of its payment.

LFP Media isn’t budging. It says BeIN is in breach of its contract and must stump up the full fee. The league argues the restrictions are essential to how rights packages are designed and sold.

BeIN, however, has come armed with numbers. It points to the fact that LFP Media itself once valued some of these restrictions at €20 million – a figure the broadcaster now uses as the foundation of its claim.

It’s a messy dispute and one that cuts right to the core of football’s media landscape. Broadcasters want flexibility and value for money. Leagues want to squeeze every euro out of their product. Somewhere in the middle, fans just want access to the best matches.

For Ligue 1, the timing is far from ideal. With confidence in the French TV market still fragile after years of turbulence with the DAZN platform and the failed Mediapro deal before that, another high-profile row with one of its biggest broadcast partners is the last thing it needs.

Whether BeIN gets its €29 million or not, this case will likely set the tone for how media rights are negotiated and fought over in the years ahead.