Already minus its biggest draw, Ligue 1 opens amid TV fiasco

PARIS — While France basks in the glow of the dazzling Paris Olympics, French soccer is trying to shake off a hangover from its own disastrous summer, as the first Ligue 1 season of the post-Kylian Mbappe era begins this weekend.

A year after the departures of Lionel Messi and Neymar, Mbappe left Paris Saint-Germain, too, signing for Real Madrid after eight and a half years in the French top flight.

Nobody was surprised to see Mbappe finally move on, and he has left behind a league in disarray after the fiasco surrounding the sale of its broadcast rights.

The French league (LFP) only confirmed a couple of weeks ahead of the season starting that it had agreed a new domestic television deal for the next five years.

Its negotiating power weakened by the collapse of the relationship with its longtime partner, pay-TV giant Canal Plus, the LFP finally signed a contract with British streaming platform DAZN and Qatar's beIN Sports for the knockdown price of 500 million euros ($548 million) annually.

International rights have increased to a reported 160 million euros annually, but the domestic deal is a considerable drop from the previous 624 million euros.

It is a sobering outcome for the LFP, the president of which, Vincent Labrune, hoped to reach one billion euros a year in broadcast revenue.

Any challengers for PSG?

"We had to find the best solution for the clubs, in terms of exposure and cash flow," admitted Jean-Pierre Caillot of Reims, one of Ligue 1's most prominent presidents.

"It is obviously not the result we imagined at the beginning, but it allows us to not compromise the future."

The new broadcast deal was pilloried by John Textor, the American owner of Olympique Lyonnais.

"Signing a long-term contract with traditional distribution models is looking backwards, when we should be looking forwards," he said.

The upshot of all this could be a less competitive Ligue 1, in a landscape which has seen PSG win 10 of the last 12 titles.

But how Luis Enrique's team copes without Mbappe, who scored 44 goals last season, will be fascinating.

There has been no glamorous new signing to replace Mbappe. Not yet anyway. But, the Parisians have still spent money, including up to 70 million euros on Portugal midfielder Joao Neves from Benfica.

In Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola, Randal Kolo Muani and Warren Zaire-Emery, it has other French international stars.

Bordeaux's demise

The hope for the neutral has to be that France's other leading clubs can push PSG further this time.

The arrival of former Brighton coach Roberto De Zerbi could give Marseille a boost after it failed to qualify for Europe last season.

"I live off passion and emotions. This team has always been different," De Zerbi said at his unveiling.

Monaco, runner-up last season, and Lyon should be stronger, but Brest is unlikely to repeat its incredible performance in the last campaign, especially with Champions League soccer now, as well.

Nothing symbolizes French soccer's financial plight quite like the collapse of Bordeaux, the six-time champion that has gone into receivership.

The former club of Alain Giresse, Jean Tigana and Zinedine Zidane was in Ligue 2 last season, but has renounced its professional status and looks set to restart in the fourth tier.

AFP