France’s Cour d’appel de Paris has again ruled in favour of the Professional Football League (LFP) and its commercial arm LFP Media, rejecting compensation claims brought by Canal+ and beIN Sports linked to the post-Mediapro reshuffle of Ligue 1 domestic rights.
French media reports said the broadcasters were seeking around €660 million, arguing they were disadvantaged by the way rights were reallocated in June 2021 after Mediapro’s collapse. The appeal court decisions uphold earlier findings that backed the LFP’s approach.
The dispute centres on the 2021-2024 cycle, when Amazon Prime Video took roughly 80% of matches for €250 million per season, while beIN retained a smaller package that was subsequently sublicensed to Canal+ on materially different financial terms. Canal+ and beIN claimed the outcome created an unfair imbalance.
In its response, the LFP said the latest rulings represent its 19th and 20th favourable decisions across the various proceedings since 2021, and urged an end to what it described as knock-on procedural warfare.
Canal+ hit back in a statement, saying it had “always simply defended its own interests and those of its subscribers” and argued it was entitled to do so given the “considerable financial loss” it says it has suffered. The pay-TV group added it will review “the available legal avenues” to continue pursuing the case.
The latest legal outcome lands against the backdrop of the LFP’s wider distribution tensions with Canal+ around Ligue 1+, which launched without the pay-TV group as a distributor after talks broke down.
