A domestic rights tender covering up to the next five seasons of French soccer's Coupe de France knockout competition has been launched.
The French Football Federation (FFF) launched the tender process on Friday (November 14), with the French L'Equipe publication reporting that the tender has five packages of rights on offer, with one covering the women's Coupe de France.
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It has also been reported that there is a fifth year potentially on offer for interested broadcasters, on top of the four seasons (which would run between 2026-27 and 2029-30).
Currently, the knockout competition is covered live in France by France Télévisions (free-to-air) and BeIN Sports (pay-TV) broadcasters, in deals unveiled in December 2022. For BeIN, that represented the first time it had secured rights to the competition.
Those rights were valued annually at €22 million (at the time, $25.5 million) before those tie-ups, but are now worth just €12 million per season, of which sum France TV pays €8 million.
The entirety of French soccer has seen its value to broadcasters slump in recent years, presenting a serious challenge to the FFF, which must find a way in the next six months to somehow increase the value of the country's premier cup soccer competition.
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By GlobalDataThe tender has been launched with this year's Coupe de France about to enter its eighth round – teams from the top-tier Ligue 1 only enter from the round of 32, set to take place in early January.
Last season's competition was won by heavyweights Paris Saint-Germain.
