LFP Media, the venture that manages the commercial rights for French soccer leagues, has announced a new media rights deal with digital streaming platform Tapmad that will see the top-tier Ligue 1 aired in Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The agreement began with the recent clash between rivals Olympique de Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain (September 20) but was officially announced by LFP Media today, with Tapmad set to continue broadcasting Ligue 1 matches live for the 2026-27 season, which got underway on August 21.
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The new rights deal comes as LFP Media looks to expand the international reach of Ligue 1, having announced a range of new international rights agreements for this season.
The venture confirmed it had expanded the competition’s reach to 53 broadcast partners across 215 global markets, with deals in India and Indonesia rounding out the list.
In India, heavyweight pay-TV operator JioStar will carry at least four Ligue 1 matches per gameweek on its JioHotstar service, including a “selection” of games on the Star Sports linear channel.
Elsewhere in Asia, Ligue 1 will also be broadcast in Indonesia by the Emtek media enterprise, which will disseminate all nine Ligue 1 games per week via the Vidio OTT streaming service, which boasts users in the eight-figure range.
These agreements complement recently announced deals, such as with XSports in Brazil, as well as previously agreed broadcast partnerships in territories such as China (with Migu and CCTV), Mexico (Fox Sports), sub-Saharan Africa (Multichoice) and more.
In Europe, streaming platform DAZN will be one of the league’s main carriers, covering major markets such as Spain, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, while in the UK, pay-TV giant Sky Sports will air highlights packages of Ligue 1 games throughout the season.
For LFP Media, the international rights deals are in sharp contrast to the state of its domestic distribution, which was forced to launch an in-house, direct-to-consumer streaming platform, Ligue 1+, to house all games after falling out with traditional French broadcasters.
Ligue 1's media rights have been a source of turmoil and significant concern for the LFP for the last seven years, during which time they have decreased in value significantly.
The LFP fell out with several broadcasters – including BeIN Sports, run by Paris Saint-Germain owner Nasser Al-Khelaifi – over the sale of domestic rights to its top league. There have also been legal battles over the last few years with both Canal Plus and DAZN.
If the league were ever to seek a return to linear broadcast domestically, poor relations with the country’s most dominant TV platforms could hamper any efforts to grow media rights values.
Ligue 1+ launched last July at a price point of €14.99 ($17.66) per month for an annual subscription, or a non-committal monthly tier at $19.99 per month. The service boasted strong initial subscription success, but numbers suggest it will need to grow its base further in 2026-27 to make up for the league's shortfall in revenue from traditional TV partners.
On June 12, the subscription fee was raised to $19.99 per month for the one-year subscription tier.
While a deal for one game per matchday was in place with BeIN last season (for €78.5 million annually), that will not be the case moving forward, meaning the LFP will have to make up for that income loss through other means.
