For an upfront cost of €250 million per season, Amazon has acquired the broadcasting rights to 80 percent of available matches. The Le Pass Ligue 1 channel, which will show around 300 matches per month, will cost €12.99 per month to Amazon Prime users in Europe. The remaining 20% is with Canal+, who will be paying €332 million, much to their displeasure.
There is presently no official transmission of the Ligue 1 on TV or live streaming in India due to a lack of a broadcast partner, and there is no mention of it on their official website. This may change in the future, as India is one of Amazon’s most important Prime Video markets.
Will It Affect Indian Viewers?
Amazon said in a statement that starting August 6, Prime Video Ligue 1 will exclusively show eight matches per week for three years from all match-rounds of Ligue 1 Uber Eats, including the season’s top ten choice matches.
What Alex Green had to say about this?
Alex Green, Amazon Prime Europe Director, told Reuters that they believe the price is reasonable. It will make soccer more affordable and accessible in terms of both cost and consumption. They’ll be the faces of our Ligue 1 show on Prime Video each week, bringing all of their knowledge and enthusiasm for the sport to subscribers. For us, this is just the beginning, and we will continue to innovate throughout the season to satisfy football fans.
Coverage for the Broadcast
Amazon, the online retail titan, has already announced its plans to broadcast Ligue 1 in France and throughout Europe. Thierry Henry, a French icon and World Cup winner, will be on the expert panel for the coverage.
The best aspect about this coverage is that fans who are streaming games will be able to turn off the commentary and just listen to the ambient sound of spectators in stadiums.
Though the complete roster of pundits has yet to be released, Thierry Henry, LudovicGiuly, Vitorino Hilton, and Pascal Dupraz are rumored to be among those who will be part of the commentary team. DAZN and Discovery Channel also made bids for the broadcast rights, but LFP went with Amazon’s.
The only reason Amazon Prime was able to acquire the contract was due to Mediapro’s failure to make timely payments. They had a €780 million contract with the Ligue 1 authorities, but they did not pay it on time.
