French President Emmanuel Macron encouraging friend Rodolphe Saadé to purchase Ligue 1 TV rights

French President Emmanuel Macron is encouraging good friend and businessman Rodolphe Saadé to purchase the rights to broadcast Ligue 1 matches, reports Sportszone.

⚡️ FLASH ZONE 📺

Selon nos informations, Emmanuel Macron verrait d’un bon œil que Rodolphe Saadé, son ami ayant récemment fait l’acquisition du groupe Altice (BFM TV, RMC etc), rachète les droits TV de la Ligue 1. pic.twitter.com/hH3yIVd0as

— SPORTS ZONE (@SportsZone__) March 30, 2024

Franco-Lebanese Saadé, who is chairman of French logistics and transport group CMA CGM, has recently acquired the Altice group, comprising popular French news channel BFM TV and also RMC. 

Earlier in the season, the LFP had to cancel its bidding process after no broadcaster met its minimum price, after having hoped that big players such as Apple, DAZN, and beIN Sports would challenge current rights holders Amazon Prime and Canal+, the latter announcing that it would not be bidding for any of the domestic rights packages for the first time in its history, having been discouraged by the Mediapro fiasco and dealing with the LFP, having paid more than Amazon Prime for their current package, despite receiving fewer games. 

Domestic broadcaster TF1 has also expressed an interest in acquiring the rights to show some Ligue 1 games, having missed out on the rights to the next two World Cups. 

GFFN | Jack McArdle