French Cup TV rights in limbo as France Télévisions faces budget squeeze

The French Cup risks disappearing from free television from 2026 onwards: the French Football Federation (FFF) has still not signed an agreement with France Télévisions for free-to-air broadcast rights to the competition for the 2026–2030 period, FFF president Philippe Diallo revealed on Thursday at the federation’s board meeting.

On the pay-TV side, the situation has been settled since November 2025: beIN Sports confirmed its commitment, continuing the partnership forged with the FFF in December 2022. It is the free-to-air portion of the deal that is stalling. France Télévisions has broadcast the French Cup free-to-air without interruption since 2006, but the public group’s current budget constraints are paralyzing discussions.

“There is a willingness on France TV’s part to retain the French Cup rights. At the same time, there is a context at France Télévisions over recent months that explains why negotiations are also taking time,” Philippe Diallo said, acknowledging that without these financial difficulties, “the rights would have been sold some time ago”.

The FFF president is awaiting a “clarification of the situation” so that France Télévisions can commit contractually. He nonetheless expressed confidence in the outcome of discussions and stated that his goal remains to extend the historic partnership with the public broadcaster.

In case of failure, Diallo says he has alternatives. “There are several broadcasters who have come to see us. The French Cup is a popular competition, which is at the heart of the French people like the Tour de France, and so we have had several approaches,” he said, without naming these contenders.

For the 2022–2026 period, French Cup TV rights were valued at between 15 and 20 million euros. The stakes go beyond the financial aspect alone: as the oldest of the national competitions, the French Cup brings together all clubs in the territory, including overseas, and its free-to-air accessibility is seen as fundamental to its popular identity.