After weeks of talks, the conflict between the French Professional Football League (LFP) and Canal+ has “reached a solution,” according to L’ÉQUIPE. The LFP on Tuesday approved a solution to the dispute that “authorizes the Ligue 1 principal broadcaster to show two of its three fixtures on Canal+ Sport.” The “big match” on Sunday (on Canal+ Premium) returns to 9pm, “as the broadcaster requested.” Also, the Monday Ligue 2 match (on Canal+ Sport) “was pushed back” from 8:30pm to 8:45pm. For these developments, Canal+, which pays €540M ($575M) annually to the LFP until ’20, must “put more chips in the pot if the new offering is a success.” The channel will pay €8 ($8.52) for each new subscription since the end of last August. It had "become urgent that a solution was found." Since the beginning of the season, the channel had not “stuck to the wording of the rights tender for the championships” which specified that three matches must be broadcast on Canal+. Until now, only the Sunday night match “was being broadcast on the premium channel.” As a result, the LFP claimed it had “less exposure and lost 300,000 viewers” compared to other seasons. At the signing of the new agreement, LFP General Dir Didier Quillot called the new deal a “win/win” (L’ÉQUIPE, 12/14).
