TV deal causes arguments in France
Change to Ligue 2 kick-off times
26 July ~ There is a new player in the French football television market and their entry into the field has been marked by controversy this summer. BeIn Sport, the recently created arm of Al Jazeera, have spent €330 million (£258.4m) to buy the rights to some Ligue 1, Ligue 2, Spanish League and Europa League games. They are making the headlines because the Friday night Ligue 2 programme they have the rights to has moved from last season's slot of 8pm to 6.45pm. It has been brought forward to avoid clashing with the new showpiece Friday night Ligue 1 match that BeIn Sport also have the rights to.
The new Ligue 2 kick-off time is not entirely the broadcaster's fault. The French League authorities (LFP) made a number of time slots available and the games were initially going to be at 6pm, which would have been even worse. The compromise has hardly appeased fans, officials and club presidents, who are angry games will be taking place so early on a working day.
"It shows a complete lack of respect for our supporters and commercial partners," Angers president Said Chabane said. "It poses a real threat in terms of fan numbers, and the loss of commercial opportunities will inevitably hit clubs' incomes."
His Clermont counterpart Claude Michy added: "For a 6.45pm kick-off, stewards and other volunteers will need to be at the ground at 4.45pm. How are they going to do that?" Michy wondered whether it would have been better to "stick with 8pm and turn down the €12m from BeIn Sport, which works out as €600,000 per club."
Fans across the country have united behind an "SOS Ligue 2" campaign. Banners and petitions protesting against 6.45pm kick-offs were prominent at pre-season matches. The campaign has received widespread media coverage plus support from prominent figures. At Lens, outgoing president Gervais Martel, manager Jean-Louis Garcia and sporting director Antoine Sibierski have all signed the petition.
Lens fan Pierre Revillon, who runs the independent Red Tigers supporters group, says attendances will be affected. "We normally have 300 season ticket holders. This season, we have 150. When you talk to members, kick-off times are mentioned all the time. Not everybody that follows Lens lives in Lens. We have fans that regularly come from Paris or Belgium. Getting to away games can mean half a day travelling. The new times make it very, very difficult."
When Ligue 2 kicks-off this Friday night the games will take place at 8.30pm because there's no Ligue 1 game to clash with. When Ligue 1 returns on August 10, 6.45pm will become the norm. Maybe if fans vote with their feet, the authorities will reconsider. James Eastham
It will be interesting to see how gates are affected. It's not as if Ligue 2 games attract huge numbers anyway so this time change could well be drastic. It will certainly affect the almost non-existent away followings at this level.
Surely not, if away support is already 'almost non-existent'.
If Ligue 1 is played mostly on Saturdays, why doesn't Ligue 2 play on Sundays? Even with 8 p.m. kick offs, Friday night always seemed a strange slot. I suppose the answer is the usual. TV schedules.
Do Lens really have only 300 season ticket holders? I thought that they were one of the most fanatically supported teams in France.
Believe that refers to the fan club, not RC Lens as a whole.
geobra wrote:
If Ligue 1 is played mostly on Saturdays, why doesn't Ligue 2 play on Sundays? Even with 8 p.m. kick offs, Friday night always seemed a strange slot. I suppose the answer is the usual. TV schedules.
Like England, seven Ligue 1 games are generally played on a Saturday, three are then moved to the Sunday, so yes, Friday is the best option for TV coverage.
Lens averaged almost 22,000 a match last season, and they may well suffer the most from the change, given the large geographical area from which they draw. A similar dynamic exists with at least two of last year's top five, Nantes and Bastia, though Bastia are now in Ligue 1.
Figures available here.
There are some teams that take an away following e.g Metz, Bastia, Lens, Nantes, Monaco but with the distances required to travel the early kick times might even kill off that.
Sunday nights 8pm are out due to Canal+'s regular Sunday 9pm kick off which is more often than not the big game of the weekend.
Why are Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 never played in the afternoon? What would be wrong with Sunday afternoon for Ligue 2? Even in Italy, where TV also reigns supreme, most matches still have afternoon kick offs, and the majority of the fans that I know hate it when their team plays in the evening.
Football culture.
French matches have been played in the evening for decades, just as Italian matches always used to be played on Sunday afternoons. Afternoon broadcasts of Premier League, Serie A and Bundesliga matches also get an audience in France.
Odd that they only play at night.
645 doesn't seem too bad although 7 pm would be better. Most baseball games (hockey and basketball too) in the US begin at 7 or 7:05, except on Sundays where it's usually earlier to help the visitors get home a bit earlier and to accommodate fireworks/let-kids-run-the-bases. High school football usually begins at 7 or earlier.
BTW, where's the "PSG becoming a super-club" thread?
Stop whinging. You're just fans and nobody cares about you.
Lens so far have around 10,000 season ticket holders against 15,000 last season. Not sure how much this is related to their on-field performances but it's a significant difference. That was in today's L'Équipe.
They have afternoon games for Ligue 2 games during January and February toavoid bad weather conditions, it lasts about 8 games of the season and games kick off at 14h30 but even that caused a hooha when it was introduced.
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