LFP Media, the venture that manages the commercial rights for top-tier French soccer, has found a new chief executive.
Olivier Bramly, most recently the chief executive (CEO) for media and entertainment at Evision (owned by the telecommunications heavyweight e&), has been selected to head up that division following the departure of Nicolas de Tavernost in February (which was swiftly followed up by LFP Media director general Martin Aurenche stepping down, that same month).
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It was reported by French media late last week that Bramly's selection had been finalized following a process that included three club presidents from French soccer's top two divisions, as well as Vincent Labrune (president of the LFP's main body itself).
CVC Capital Partners, the sports-focused private equity fund that has a 13% stake in LFP Media, has also, according to reports, been involved in Bramly's selection.
Bramly spent five years at evision, having joined in February, 2021, before leaving in January this year. Before that posting, he was the senior vice president for southwest Europe at Fox Networks Group.
He has also spent 15 years at Eurosport, having worked there between 1999 and 2014.
Bramly's main focus in his new role will be increasing the distribution of Ligue 1+, the in-house, direct-to-consumer, streaming platform developed by the LFP that covers all games domestically.
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 has also fallen out significantly with a number of 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 of strong initial subscription success, but numbers suggest it will need to grow its base still 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.
