BeIN Says It Will Suspend Payments to French Soccer League

(Bloomberg) -- BeIN Sports said in a letter that it was suspending payments to Ligue 1, leaving the top French soccer league with little broadcast revenue for the rest of the season after measures to stop the spread of Covid-19 forced it to stop matches.

The league was expecting 42 million euros ($46 million) in April from Qatari-owned BeIN. Payments might resume if the season starts again in June, after the regular season usually ends, BeIN said in a letter to the French league Wednesday. The decision follows news earlier this week that Canal Plus, its dominant broadcaster in this cycle of rights, was reducing payments.

The LFP didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

European leagues could lose more than 1 billion pounds ($1.2 billion) in broadcast revenue by the end of this season if they don’t complete matches, according to Richard Broughton of Ampere Analysis. Germany’s DFL sporting body is working with an adviser to consider financing alternatives following the suspension of Bundesliga matches due to the coronavirus, people familiar with the matter have said.

The French Ligue is Europe’s least wealthy, but it does contain giants PSG, also Qatari-owned, and other powerful teams such as Lyon, Marseille and Nice, which was recently bought by British entrepreneur Jim Ratcliffe.

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