Coupe de France TV rights: TF1 circles as France Télévisions struggles

The French Football Federation is struggling to finalize the allocation of free-to-air Coupe de France rights for the next cycle, with TF1 positioning itself as a credible alternative amid France Télévisions’ delays. FFF president Philippe Diallo acknowledged on Thursday, following the federation’s executive committee meeting, that negotiations with the public broadcaster are stalling due to severe budget constraints.

The pay-TV portion is settled: beIN Sports has acquired rights from the Round of 32 onwards, starting in December, for a sum potentially reaching 9 million euros per year until 2030. The free-to-air component remains unresolved. France Télévisions, which paid 11 million euros annually in the previous cycle and then 8 million, is now demanding to cut its contribution to 4 million euros — a 50% reduction — due to austerity measures imposed on the public service since the start of the year.

“The situation is both simple and complex,” Diallo said. “Simple because we have commercialized a large portion of these rights on good terms and we are, with our historic partner France Télévisions, in discussions to finalize the free-to-air rights. There is a desire to keep the Coupe de France. But at the same time, there is a context at France Télévisions over several months with a very significant demand for budget savings. France Télévisions needs visibility to know exactly what budgets they will have available.”

TF1, which already capitalized on France Télévisions’ financial difficulties to secure several Tournoi des Six Nations matches, is closely watching the situation. The group would reportedly only be interested in the final, or possibly a few additional high-profile matches — PSG, OM or other top-tier clubs — leveraging its subsidiary TMC for other matches. However, TMC could struggle to absorb heavy prime-time investments, which limits the scope of the offer.

M6 and L’Équipe channel are also among the players monitoring the matter. Diallo officially maintains his “Plan A”: preserving the historic partnership with the public broadcaster. “Today, my wish is to ensure that with France Télévisions, and taking into account the context they are in, we can continue this partnership,” he clarified. A return by TF1, the competition’s major broadcaster from the 1980s through the early 2000s, remains an increasingly concrete possibility if negotiations continue to stall.