The Rise of the French Sports Industry - May 2019
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Opportunity and challenge
inThe Riseand
betting of the French
integrity:
Sports
key Industry in a
considerations
time of change
May 2019
February 2019
Editorial Director Head of Marketing Contributors
James Emmett Milly Preston Saint-Clair Milesi
Fran Reyes
Art Director Sponsorship Director
Cherry Fermor Simon Thomlinson
Foreword The Rise of the French Sports Industry
The League of Talents
N
Nearly a year ago, France On the pitches of Ligue 1 Conforama,
became champions of they play against established talents
the world in Russia for in one of the most dynamic and
the second time. With an attractive leagues in the world.
average age of 25 and This new slogan also contributes
10 months, the French football team to raising awareness of Ligue 1
became the youngest world champion Conforama worldwide. Following
Didier Quillot, since Brazil in 1970. This worldwide the success of this new national
CEO, LFP success highlighted hard work from audiovisual rights deal, the
all of the French clubs to train young international development of Ligue
talents. Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane 1 Conforama represents the LFP’s
Dembélé, Samuel Umtiti, and Blaise number one priority. In this context,
Matuidi have all bloomed in Ligue new events are scheduled for this
1 Conforama before reaching any summer. For the first time, four
footballer’s Holy Grail. French clubs will be on tour in the US.
By the middle of July, the four French
A few months before this worldwide clubs will be in Washington DC for
success, the tender went out for friendly matches and a tournament.
national audiovisual rights. The Additionally, for the second year in a
outcomes were highly successful for row, the Trophée des Champions will
French football. Ligue 1 Conforama take place in Shenzhen, China. Finally,
secured an exceptional and thanks to our partnership with the
unprecedented visibility thanks to the firm BKT, we are also working towards
arrival of a new player in Mediapro the further development of our brand
and by continuing its partnership image in India, which is a promising
with BeIN Sports. From 2020, Ligue 1 area for football. In summary, the
Conforama will increase the results of LFP is committed to making Ligue 1
its national audiovisual rights by 60%. Conforama the next big thing!
Ligue 1 Conforama adopted a new
slogan, ‘The Ligue of Talents’, based
on these past achievements. The high
quality of training centres and the
clubs which let young players express
themselves enables new talents to
reveal themselves every new season.
3
Vive La Revolution (Du Sport)
LEADERSReport
Vive La Revolution
(Du Sport)
The next handful of years will see France play host to a succession of the
world’s biggest sporting events above and beyond its regular carousel of
major annual competitions. For the country’s sporting bodies, its political
leaders, and its major industries, there is much to gain from the years ahead.
F
rance is one of sport’s most prolific Income from the travel and tourism industry
hosts. Football’s Uefa Euro 2016 is being represents a 3.6% share of the French GDP, higher
followed by a Fifa Women’s World Cup than that of any other EU country. It offers a range of
this year, a Rugby World Cup in 2023, summer and winter sports destinations along with a
and an Olympic Games in Paris in 2024. calendar of internationally popular sporting events,
from the Evian Championship in women’s golf to the
Under successive presidents and governments, the Vendee Globe sailing challenge, the Paris Marathon
French political class has used sport as a platform for and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Formula One’s French
economic development and global projection, as well Grand Prix returned in 2018 after a ten-year absence.
as an accelerant for infrastructural projects. Before its
current run, it staged a Winter Olympics and Fifa World French Open tennis at Roland Garros attracted 480,500
Cup in the 1990s and a Rugby World Cup in 2007. spectators over two weeks in May and June 2018, with
France is also a significant force in competition,
winning the most coveted prize of them all at the INCOM E FROM THE TRAVEL
Fifa World Cup in Russia last year. As it had been in AND TOURISM INDUSTRY
1998, that victory was celebrated in the media for its
REPRESENTS A 3.6% SHARE
demonstration of the more youthful, multi-cultural
aspects of national society. More directly, it was
OF THE FRENCH GDP, HIGHER
ample evidence again of the French academy THAN THAT OF ANY OTHER
system with 50 French-born players involved at the EU COUNTRY.
tournament - the rest represented Morocco, Portugal,
Senegal and Tunisia.
another 23,000 watching the qualifiers. A rolling €360
The unfolding major event strategy aims to tie million package of renovations, staggered annually
together that reputation for sporting excellence with until 2021, will deepen its impact, with a new roof on
the tourism needs of the world’s most visited country the Philippe Chatrier show court set to take sessions
and a changing economic outlook. into the night.
6
Viva La Revolution The Rise of the French Sports Industry
French Open tennis on
the distinctive clay of
Roland Garros.
7
LEADERSReport
Then there is cycling’s three-week Tour de France, men’s tournament, with €775 million of that directly
perhaps the most effective travelogue in sport with a attributable to its staging. Those upgrades delivered a
television audience in 190 countries. According to a significant expansion in capacity - with the number of
2017 report by Financial Review, towns nationwide pay venues with more than 50,000 seats doubling from two
Tour promoter Amaury Sport Organisation €60,000 to to four - and in the availability of hospitality places.
host the start of a stage and €110,000 to welcome a
finish, and can expect a return of between three and Top-flight French football venues, which have
six times that outlay. Around 40 cities and towns are historically been publicly owned, offered an average
involved each year; an estimated 12 million people turn of 1,178 VIP seats going into Euro 2016, according to
out to watch the peloton go by from the roadside. ESSMA. That worked out at around 4% of capacity,
compared to a European average of between 8% and
Yet for all the country’s scenery and heritage, it is 12%. This rose significantly among stadiums used for
hoped the incoming swing of major sporting events the tournament - most notably at Lyon’s Groupama
will highlight the emergence of a new France. Since Stadium, which has 6,000 VIP seats, Marseille’s Stade
his election in 2017, President Emmanuel Macron Velodrome, which more than trebled its hospitality
has emphasised the nation’s potential as a centre for capacity from 2,000 to 6,500, and the Parc des Princes,
technological innovation and climate research. whose 4,378 business and VIP seats now account for
11% of overall capacity.
The latest edition of EY’s FDI Attractiveness Survey
found a 31% rise in the number of inward investment Three Euro 2016 venues will be used for the Women’s
projects in 2018 as France rose above the UK to World Cup, with the Groupama Stadium, in its sponsor-
be ranked second behind Germany in ‘investor free guise as the Stade de Lyon, staging the semi-finals
perceptions of European country attractiveness’. Paris and final. The city has a unique status in the women’s
T HE L AT E ST E D IT ION OF E Y ’S FDI ATTRACTIVENESS
S U RV E Y F O UN D A 3 1 % R IS E IN THE NUM BER OF
I N WA RD I N V E ST ME NT P ROJ E C T S IN 2018 AS FRANCE
RO S E A B OV E T H E UK TO B E R A NKED SECOND BEHIND
G E R M A N Y I N ‘IN V E STO R P E RC E PTIONS OF EUROPEAN
C O U N T RY ATT R AC T IV E NE S S ’.
is now seen as more appealing than London, with game: Olympique Lyonnais Feminin are the reigning
Brexit potentially creating further opportunities south French and European champions; they have secured
of the Channel. In May, IBM confirmed plans to create 16 domestic league titles and won the Uefa Women’s
1,800 new jobs in the country. Champions League five times.
The Fifa Women’s World Cup By mid-April, over 720,000 of 1.3 million available
tickets had been sold for the tournament, which takes
Hosting the 2019 Fifa Women’s World Cup is a timely place from 7th June to 7th July. Three marquee fixtures
opportunity for France. TV viewership has climbed sold out within 48 hours: the opening game between
across a succession of tournaments, with the total France and South Korea at the Parc des Princes, and
global audience of Uefa Women’s Euro 2017 in the the semi-finals and final. Prices are competitive,
Netherlands reaching 150 million. ranging from an entry-level €9 for group matches to
€84 for a top-category seat at the final.
To an extent, the Women’s World Cup will build on
the footballing legacy of Uefa Euro 2016, whose The competition is expected to bring its share of
economic impact was valued by Keneo and the CDES financial benefits but its social impact will be critical,
at €1.22 billion. According to stadium management too. Two of Fifa’s global partners - Visa and Adidas -
group ESSMA, €1.7 billion was invested in nine have committed to matching their marketing spend on
new or renovated French stadiums ahead of the last year’s men’s World Cup in Russia for the Women’s
8
Viva La Revolution The Rise of the French Sports Industry
2018 French and European
champions, Olympique
Lyonnais Feminin.
World Cup this year. Nike, meanwhile, has coordinated skateboarding and surfing, with all four disciplines
a significant international push around its activities this lending themselves well to a festivalised setting
summer, when it will supply unique kits to 14 of the 24 alongside live music and entertainment. The local
teams involved. organisers have also unveiled plans for a mass
participation marathon alongside the medal event, as
Both Nike and Visa have made long-term commitments well as a chance for fans to take part digitally in the
to women’s football through European confederation Games through esports.
Uefa, and will look to make a pertinent impression
in France. That may create opportunities for local The Games will support a push to realign international
agencies to show that they can convey those brands’ perceptions of one of the world’s best-known cities.
messages to this growing target market. Mayor Anne Hidalgo has pursued a greener agenda
for Paris since her election in 2014, championing the
Paris 2024 – tomorrow’s Olympic city extension of bike-sharing schemes, restrictions on
motorised transport, a proposed ban on diesel engines
Already a two-time Olympic host, Paris was awarded and a pledge to open the Paris Metro on a 24/7 basis.
the Summer Games for 2024 after its third bid of the The regional government has also instituted a series
modern era. Through earlier attempts to land the of business-friendly initiatives to combat France’s
2008 and 2012 editions, the French capital honed bureaucratic reputation overseas. Just outside the city,
not only its political strategy but also its hosting meanwhile, work is underway on a €2 billion expansion
concept, which aims to reflect an evolving identity of Disneyland Paris.
as well as the rationalising needs of the International
Olympic Committee. There are signs the industry is responding to a different
vision of Paris. Last year Nike confirmed that it would
The organisers promise that 95% of the facilities used switch Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain to
will be existing or temporary, including a cluster Jordan Brand playing kits, promoting the change with
around the Stade de France at St Denis. 80% of cross-cultural activities in music and fashion. Justin
venues will be within ten kilometres of the Olympic Timberlake and Beyonce are among those
and Paralympic Village, while a ‘Heart of Paris’ cluster to wear bespoke PSG gear, with Jumpman-labelled
will bring events to the Grand Palais, Eiffel Tower, merchandise inspired by both streetwear and
Esplanade des Invalides and the Seine. Sporting haute couture.
landmarks like Roland Garros and rugby’s Stade Jean-
Bouin will also be pressed into service. Rights holders continue to choose Paris as a
destination. Over 50,000 spectators a day made the trip
Allied to this is a more participative approach to the to Le Golf National from the 28th to 30th of September
sporting programme. Paris 2024 has chosen four to watch Europe reclaim the Ryder Cup from the
additional sports to augment the Olympic core. USA. Next January, the Milwaukee Bucks will play the
Breakdancing will feature alongside sport climbing, Charlotte Hornets at the revamped AccorHotels Arena
9
LEADERSReport
at Bercy in the first NBA regular season game to be
staged in Paris. All 19,000 tickets for the 2019 game went
within an hour, with fans from 39 nations making the trip
to London’s O2. The organisers of the Paris event will be
hoping for a similar uptake when general sale opens in
late October.
Later this year, video games publisher Riot Games will
bring the League of Legends World Championship, the
biggest event in esports, to the AccorHotels Arena.
Rugby World Cup 2023 – reimagining
French rugby
In 2017, France saw off Ireland and South Africa to win the
right to host the 2023 Rugby World Cup. It last staged the
event in 2007 and was viewed as a somewhat
conservative choice, but its selection is expected to
offer a sizeable pay-off.
The bid team certainly promised as much, guaranteeing
£350 million in proceeds from the tournament that World
Rugby would be able to reinvest in the global game. Rugby
World Cup 2023 is also expected to be a national occasion,
with 2.58 million ticket sales projected.
The tournament will arrive at a pivotal time for rugby
union in France. Long-held plans for a new €581 million
‘Grand Stade’ in Ris-Orange were scrapped in December
2016, with the French Rugby Federation (FFR) and French
Rugby League (LNR) instead renewing terms to share the
Stade de France with the country’s football authorities until
at least 2025. The 80,000-seater venue will hold the Rugby
World Cup final, as well as national team games
and club showpieces.
The Rugby World Cup is also a chance to reenergise French
rugby union, with the national team mired in inconsistency
as the game drifts behind football and basketball in
cultural prominence, particularly in big cities. The sport is
approaching its own crossroads globally, with CVC making
an offer for a stake in the Six Nations Championship and
Infront backing a multi-billion dollar proposal for a new
global Nations Championship.
At club level, CVC’s £220 million investment in
England’s Gallagher Premiership and mooted interest in
the multinational Pro14 competition represent a significant
threat to the preeminence of the Top14, currently the most
powerful domestic league in the northern hemisphere and
one of France’s most robust sports properties.
The French rugby union team
will compete on home soil again
at the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
10Viva La Revolution The Rise of the French Sports Industry
None of that should affect the prospects of an event The French sports media landscape could also be
which is expected to bring around 450,000 supporters set for dramatic change. According to reports from
to French shores. According to a Deloitte report Europe1 in February, Canal+ has been investigating a
commissioned by the FFR, it will create or support 17,000 possible acquisition of rival broadcaster beIN Sports.
jobs and generate an economic impact of between €1.9 The move follows the failure of Canal+ to secure any
billion and €2.4 billion, bringing €119 million into the domestic Ligue 1 rights in May 2018, with beIN picking
French treasury through taxes. up limited packages and the Chinese-owned, Spanish-
based Mediapro agency taking the bulk of them for its
Challenges and opportunities in wait new channel in a deal worth €1.15 billion a year from
2020 to 2024.
Since his election in 2017 ahead of far-right candidate
Marine Le Pen, French president and En Marche leader If it came to pass, the beIN takeover would be a
Emmanuel Macron has sought to modernise the French statement of real intent from French media giant
economy with a series of pro-business labour reforms Vivendi, the Canal+ parent whose €34.3 billion
and tax cuts. Yet despite some positive signs, like a rise in of current assets include Universal Music Group,
overall employment and a fall in youth unemployment, Dailymotion and the Havas agency. It would also run
his agenda has so far come at a substantial political cost. against a definitive trend in the last decade of the
French sports business, possibly marking the start of a
Macron’s personal approval levels remain stale while in new era. The Qatar Sports Investments vehicle bought
recent months, Paris has been the scene of sometimes a controlling stake in Ligue 1 football club Paris Saint-
violent weekly protests by the populist ‘Gilets Jaunes’ Germain in 2011, subsequently bankrolling a decade
movement. With the country’s traditional parties in a state of success, while Qatar is also the title sponsor of the
of collapse and the renamed Rassemblement National Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, Europe’s richest horse race.
still a looming threat, the stakes are high for Macron’s En The Qatari-owned beIN Sports has helped stimulate
Marche project. the French broadcast rights market since its entry as a
competitor to Canal+ and native telcos in 2012.
All of that means that any unifying benefits of an effective
sports strategy will be welcome, and it is important they There is one further goal that, if met, would carry
are widely shared. Macron has been critical of the current potent symbolism for the French sports project.
MAC RON H AS B E EN CRITICAL OF THE CURRENT PARIS
20 2 4 P LA N S, C LA IM ING THAT THE SEINE- SAINT- DENIS
D IST R IC T A ROUND THE STADE DE FRANCE, WHICH HAS
S O ME O F T H E H IGHEST POVERTY AND CRIM E RATES IN
T H E C OUNT RY, IS “NOT GETTING A FAIR RETURN”.
Paris 2024 plans, claiming that the Seine-Saint-Denis Following a disastrous fire there in mid-April, the
district around the Stade de France, which has some of French government has set an optimistic five-year
the highest poverty and crime rates in the country, is target for rebuilding Paris’ Notre-Dame Cathedral. The
“not getting a fair return”. In response, his opponents cost of such a project is not yet known, although the
have pointed to the direct, adverse effect on local sports IOC has joined prominent billionaires and heads of
clubs of public spending cuts and a reduction in state- foreign governments in pledging €500,000 towards a
supported jobs. restoration fund.
Making France’s domestic sports properties more If the 850-year-old monument is returned to former
competitive is a further challenge. LFP chief executive glories by the time the Olympic flame arrives in 2024,
Didier Quillot has begun the process of restructuring it would embody France’s desire to meld tradition and
the league as a digital entity, telling the Leaders Sport ambition in its global image for the 21st century.
Business Summit in London last year that new recruits
to his digital team are all aged under 30 to ensure the
right outlook.
11France? Why France?
LEADERSReport
France? Why France?
Saint-Clair Milesi, Communications Director for the 2014 Fifa World Cup in
Brazil and for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic bid campaign, details
the upward curve in the French sports market.
M
any times have I answered this world, elected officials and yes, the private sector.
question before leaving Rio for The bid received millions of euros from private
good and moving to Paris in 2014. sponsors, certainly developing into a financing case
After having worked to help bring study for future bids (if bidding for the Olympics and
the Games to Rio in 2016 and as the Paralympics actually continue as it is).
communications director for the Fifa World Cup in
2014, I thought it was time for a new challenge in life.
THE WAVE OF OPTIM ISM
And even though France is the birthplace of modern AND GROWTH THAT
Olympism and that the country’s sports leagues and CULM INATED WITH PARIS
competitions are recognised worldwide, the sports
WINNING THE RIGHT TO
scene in France in 2014 was far from as promising as it
is now. But one could already spot a rising trend with
HOST THE GAM ES AFTER
a closer look. Sports were a growing field in all aspects 10 0 YEARS DID NOT COM E
in France. BY CHANCE.
Quickly going back to that time, when I arrived in Paris
in December 2014… The wave of optimism and growth that culminated
with Paris winning the right to host the Games after
The Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Bid Committee 100 years did not come by chance. The French capital
was being formed under the skepticism of the and the whole country were hosting more and more
multiple bid failures, particularly that painful defeat international sporting events and the local sports
in Singapore against London 2012. The general scene was gaining more momentum, becoming sexier
perception in the Olympic world and among the in the international market.
French public opinion, though receptive, was not
so favourable, especially with sports marketing With the success stories in football, volleyball,
sweetheart Los Angeles in the race. handball and other sports as well as with the
convergence of major sports events in the country, the
But the bid was very well organized by its leaders French sports scene has stepped up to a new level - on
and built almost to perfection between the sports and off the fields and courts.
14France? Why France? The Rise of the French Sports Industry
Paris 2024 bid president Tony
Estanguet pitches his city to
the Olympic movement.
On the football scene, who would dare to say a few The job market in sports is also promising and
years ago that one of the top brands in football like already fulfilling its potential. According to the French
Neymar Jr. would be playing in Ligue 1? French government, the sports sector will generate 40,000 jobs
football, benefiting from new stadia from Euro 2016, between 2017 and 2024. Yes, 5,000 new jobs a year in
is booming and top clubs are real contenders in the sports in France. I am proud to have accounted for one
Champions and Europa Leagues. of those jobs as communications director for the Paris
2024 bid.
Still in the realm of the round ball, who would have
bet that the group led by Didier Deschamps would Since the beginning of this decade, the household
reach the Euro and the Fifa World Cup finals and leave expenditures in goods and services for sports
England and Spain behind in number of Fifa World amounted to €16.6 billion (Mission des études, de
Cup successes? Yes, the French can claim that l’observation et des statistiques).
advantage now.
The good results in the Olympic Games boosted
Last year France got back on the F1 circuit after a ten- audiences and fueled the passion for sports. France
year absence. The French GP is bringing a new dynamic
to the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur and nearly
€80 million in economic positive impact, according to a
ACCORDING TO THE FRE NCH
study by Deloitte. GOVERNM ENT, THE SPO RT S
SECTOR WILL GENERATE
And after hosting the world’s top competition in 40,0 0 0 JOBS BETWEEN
handball, surfing, ice hockey, wrestling, canoe-kayak,
2017 AND 2024.
in 2017, France then received the Ryder Cup, the Gay
Games, the handball women’s Euro in 2018, the Fifa
Women’s World Cup yet to come in 2019, the Rugby came seventh at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, with
World Cup in 2023 and the Olympic and Paralympic a record 42 medals, including ten gold, 18 silver, and
Games in 2024. 14 bronze. Athletes such as Teddy Riner, the handball
national teams, and the French swimming team are
With all these events and the alignment of economic now nationally recognized celebrities.
factors, sports business of course is naturally on an
expansion. According to a 2018 report by Sponsora, In the year of the Rio Olympic and Paralympic
the French sponsorship market amounts to €3 billion Games, nearly 150 athletes were sponsored by
(activation estimate included). around sixty French companies. Among the sponsors
15LEADERSReport French judo colossus Teddy Riner in action at the Rio 2016 Olympics. 16
France? Why France? The Rise of the French Sports Industry
Banque Populaire has
been a sponsor in
sailing for decades.
were big-name companies such as energy giants terms of the contract are confidential, the market
EDF, transportation organisations RATP and SNCF, estimates the sponsorship value between €60 million
the French lottery, Coca-Cola, and even a sports and €100 million.
performance startup, Mac-Lloyd.
The sponsorship is already active as of last January.
The expansion on the fields and arenas is reflected A partner of the French NOC since 2010, the group
in the general public and sports audiences at home. is no stranger to sport sponsorship and has been
Since 2000, the air time for sports programmes in present in different sports via its brands. Banque
French TV has been multiplied by four (Observatoire de Populaire has been a sponsor in sailing for decades,
l’économie du sport, 2017). Caisse d’Epargne sponsors different sports federations
including basketball, and Natixis is a partner of Racing
The aforementioned trends clearly show that the 92 rugby club.
sponsorship market has been tilled to a fertile state -
promising grounds in France on the road to 2024. Naturally some international companies are also
surfing this recent wave in the growth of the French
Paris 2024 sponsorship market.
The economic impact of the Olympic and Paralympic Ecommerce giant Amazon, already a household
Games in Paris, the main sporting event ever to be name in many French homes, is one major player
held in France, naturally deserves a closer look. which recently decided to venture in the country. The
American company has recently signed a partnership
An independent study from the sports think-tank CDES with the French basketball league (LNB). The company’s
from Limoges shows that, on a realistic scenario logo became visible on the players’ uniforms and
the economic impact of the Olympic and Paralympic gymnasiums and TV transmissions.
Games in Paris and its region is estimated at
€8.1 billion. Another major brand that recently joined the French
sports environment is Vice. The Canadian digital media
According to the Centre de Droit et d’Economie company is the main jersey sponsor of the Red Star, an
du Sport and the Amnyos, over the next five iconic club from northern Paris with a strong popular,
years, 150,000 jobs will be created directly by the left-wing DNA and beloved of Parisian hipsters turned
preparations for and organisation of the Games. Three off by PSG’s global shine.
sectors will be particularly concerned: construction,
organisation and tourism. In conclusion, numbers and trends to encourage
sponsorship in the French market are abundant. France
Impactful brand sponsorships is strengthening its position as a leading sporting
nation and hopefully the market will keep answering
The first major company to step up to the plate to the call through 2024. And hopefully beyond.
become an official sponsor after Paris 2024 won the
bid was the BPCE banking group. Even though the
17French Sport, Expert in Export
LEADERSReport
French Sport,
Expert in Export
Heritage, know-how, authenticity and the excitement
of pure competition are the unique selling points
that two of the main sporting entities in France
are capitalising on in their quest for international
expansion. Fran Reyes examines how.
The peloton
rides down the
Champs-Elysees
towards the Arc
de Triomphe.
L
e Tour de France? “C’est géant!”
“Compared to your normal cycling race,
everything is multiplied ten times. There
is more people, more spectators, more
rush, more pressure, more expectation. It’s so hard,
yet everyday you wake up pumped, looking forward
to the stage even though there are 21. It amounts to
almost four weeks on the road, but you don’t realize
time is going by and life is happening around you right
until the moment you make it back home. That first
Monday after the race, you enter your house and the
bubble bursts. Pressure and adrenaline completely
abandon your body and you spend three days lying
on your bed, wasted. But after that, what stay with you
are some of the best memories of your life. You are not
a mere pro cyclist anymore, but a pro cyclist who has
completed the Tour. It is a coming-of-age experience.
And yeah, it is a shame that cycling is so Tour-centered
sometimes, because there are so many events that are
very beautiful as well. But le Tour, c’est le Tour.”
Elie Gesbert, a young, promising French rider for the
Arkéa-Samsic team, has only ridden the Tour de France
twice. Yet he knows what it is about. It is 116 years of
history since L’Auto, a French newspaper that needed
an event to sell more to its readers, launched the first
edition. It is roughly 3,350 kilometres to be ridden
in 21 days on a road bike: most of them in France,
although spells abroad are often exploited as a source
of excitement and business. It is a travelling village
with a population of 4,500 people joining efforts to put
20French sport, expert in export The Rise of the French Sports Industry
Around half a million
spectators line up to
watch the Tour each day.
together a daily show during the month of July. It is owned company. According to French newspaper Le
120 trucks, and 60 kilometres of wiring deployed and Monde, €150 million out of the €226 million of revenue
rolled up every day, and an average of half a million ASO generated in 2017 relates to the Tour de France.
people watching the race from the roadside every day.
Like pretty much every big sport business, the Tour
Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani was one of those spectators de France relies heavily on TV rights, which make for
back at the end of the past century. The former Emir half its income - one third comes from sponsors; the
of Qatar was spending a summer in the French rest, from public institutions which bid to host the
countryside when a gendarme asked him to step race or just see it pass through their territory. France
away from the road, as the peloton was about to flash Télévisions, the French national TV network, pays a
past. The view was so mesmerizing that he took the reported €25 million per year to host and broadcast
decision to create a cycling race in his own small, the event that paralyzes the country and captures its
desert country. Via some business acquaintances, Al imagination during its summer holidays. Along with
Thani contacted cycling legend Eddy Merckx, and ‘the ASO, it has sustained for decades a long-running
Cannibal’ looked for the assistance of those show- deal with the EBU (European Broadcasting Union),
makers who organise the ‘Grande Boucle’. the alliance of European public service media
organisations which every year puts together the
ASO, Amaury Sport Organisation, is the company Eurovision music show, for the race to be broadcasted
behind the biggest show in cycling. Although its by public TV networks and Eurosport all over the Old
portfolio includes landmark events as big as the Dakar Continent. Worldwide, the distribution is completed by
Rally (a race which made its legend in Africa, was deals with ESPN in Latin America, CCTV and Tencent
relocated to South America following terrorist threats, Sports in China, BeIN Sports in the Middle East or
and will take place in Saudi Arabia from 2020) or the Caracol TV in the cycling-mad Colombia.
Paris Marathon, as well as different ventures in golf
and sailing, cycling in general and the Tour de France in Remember the Qatari Emir? The country got its stage
particular is still the jewel in the crown of this family- race. And so did Oman, Germany and Norway. All of
21LEADERSReport 22
French sport, expert in export The Rise of the French Sports Industry
them trusted cycling, and ASO, to better portray the
beauties of their land. In a canny play, ASO includes all
these ad hoc created races in the broadcasting deal of
the Tour de France, along with older, traditional races
of its ownership such as Paris-Roubaix, Critérium du
Dauphiné or the Vuelta a España, another 21-day grand
tour held in Spain. Other race organisers, such as the
Australian Santos Tour Down Under, the Tour of Turkey
or the Tour of California, have also knocked on ASO’s
door looking for services such as consultation or media
distribution. All in all, the French company is involved
in some capacity or other with 95 of the 181 racing
days of the UCI World Tour, road cycling’s top tier, and
owns 61, a figure which is expected to grow by seven
as it may purchase the Vuelta al Pais Vasco and Clasica
de San Sebastian in the coming months.
Like the Tour de France, professional road cycling has
always been dependent on media, sponsorship and
public institutions to go ahead: a B2B model that has
been proven as barely sustainable time and again, with
events and teams folding every year.
To solve this seemingly eternal conundrum, ASO has
extended its portfolio with a new breed of events: mass
participation, leisure cycling rides, popularly known
as Gran Fondos or sportives. These events are open to
any recreational rider wishing to take part, offering a
cycling experience that can be enjoyed via a variety of
options ranging from the mere sign-up for the event
to a luxury package with transportation to and from
the airport and 5-star accommodation. Some of these
events are paired with landmark races, such as the
Paris-Roubaix Challenge or L’Étape du Tour. Others,
like the spin-offs that L’Étape has in locations as varied
as Acapulco (México), Marrakech (Morocco) or Zhuji
(China), offer the chance of ‘experience the Tour de
France legend’ and ‘unique atmosphere’ in locations
that will probably never be visited by the Tour itself.
ASO will hold up to 20 sportive event in 2019, all of
them with former champions from cycling history
showing up to add their glow, mystique and essence to
the leisure event. From a pure business perspective: it’s
a B2C line to further exploit the Tour de France brand
Arnold Brucy and spur an ever-growing business that produced €44
competes in the million of profit in 2017.
gruelling Dakar Rally.
23LEADERSReport The French national team celebrates. 24
French sport, expert in export The Rise of the French Sports Industry
Leave the bike, take the ball European Championship and the 2010 World Cup in the
group stage. The runner-up spot in the 2016 European
It’s Sunday afternoon in Roubaix. After eight days of Championship, with the core of the soon-to-be world
flat racing, the Tour de France has just had its first champion team already realising its potential, was the
showdown between its favourites on the cobbles confirmation of this. Yet Ligue 1, the national football
of Northern France where some of cycling’s biggest league which was once regarded as one of the world’s
legends have been written - and smashed. Despite finest, only second to Italy’s Serie A in the early 90s,
the glare of its name, Roubaix is not exactly a blazing was still to take its profits and bounce back from a
city: rather a sombre one. The unemployment rate is losing streak since PSG won the Cup Winners’ Cup in
well over 30%, with one out of every two citizens of 1996 - still the last European title ever claimed by a
its 55,000 population living below the poverty line. French club.
Even its iconic velodrome, finish of the prestigious
Paris - Roubaix classic, the place most riders dream of, In April 2017, the LFP, League de Football Professionel,
is ramshackle. Still, the city embraces cycling with all ruling entity of the top two tiers of French football,
its warmth and harshness every April - and so it does Ligue 1 and Ligue 2, introduced its strategy for the
again this month of July. coming five years. It was the culmination of an
internal shake-up, which had seen Didier Quillot,
In the aftermath, the same people who have been former CEO of Orange France, and Nathalie Boy de la
contemplating the cycling race finish are dragged Tour, appointed to the positions of CEO and president
elsewhere by an invisible force. There is a rugby field of the organisation in a space of eight months. The
nearby, and a giant screen on it. The French national document outlined a series of goals and priorities for
football team is playing the Fifa World Cup final. the development of the competition, namely: B2B, B2C,
There is a feeling of imminent conquest in the air: brand building, international exposure and local talent
momentum growing as Pogba and Mbappé score to protection and retention.
defeat the rival Croatia team, and then climax when
goalkeeper and captain Lloris raises the trophy. “France has always produced a vast amount of talented
‘La Grandeur’ - the magnificence. People emerge footballers, but not many stayed in the country during
[AS O ] IS INVOLV E D IN SOM E CAPACITY OR OTHER WITH 95 OF
T H E 18 1 R AC IN G DAYS OF THE UCI WORLD TOUR.
from everywhere: cars honking, flags waving, beers the golden years of their careers,” asserts Cejudo.
opening. A feast of celebration to overshadow the The whole starting XI of the Spanish national team
travelling circus that left town discreetly hours ago. who won the 2010 World Cup final played for teams
of La Liga, whereas only one of the 11 footballers who
Even though cycling is deeply embedded in the attained glory for France in 2018 played in Ligue 1. Far
French mindset, even if it might be the country’s most from being an isolated historical hiccup, the same had
prominent showcase, it is not the most popular sport. happened in 1998 - only goalkeeper Barthez and centre
“Football is gaining traction and space in the media, forward Guivarc’h made their living playing in the
although rugby is still pretty big,” says José Ignacio domestic competition, with both being transferred later
Cejudo, a Spanish sports journalist who lived and to the wealthier English Premier League. “Part of the
worked in France for a year. “Rugby has more of a reason for this phenomenon was money,” continues
white-collar fandom, whereas football is played and Cejudo. “French teams were sellers rather than buyers.
followed by ‘new French’ - young people born in France Also, the fact that most clubs were not competitive on
from foreign parents. The French national squad is a European level encouraged players to pursue their
spearheaded by footballers from such backgrounds.” dreams abroad.”
France’s triumph last summer was not the result of The balance has shifted in recent years, though. On
chance, nor a surprise, but the result of an upward the increasingly inflated international football transfer
trajectory that began after an ominous cycle in which landscape, Ligue 1 has grown in both spend and
the national squad was ejected from both the 2008 income terms above the average according to the
25LEADERSReport 26
French sport, expert in export The Rise of the French Sports Industry
data available on the Transfermarkt web platform. this quantity is shared 50-50 by the LFP and BeIN.
Although it remains a seller’s market on which the Still, the marketing efforts undertaken by French
amount of money cashed in exceeds the investment, football entities abroad are proving fruitful, with China
it still is a positive sign for its development to see the being its best harvesting ground. LFP opened its first
expenditure in talent increasing. international office in Beijing back in 2017, adapted
the schedule of its matchdays for them to suit Asian
Behind this sustained boost there are several factors. timezones and brought the 2018 edition of its summer
One is foreign investment. Since Russian businessman tournament, the Trophée des Champions, played by
Dmitri Rybolovlev bought a majority stake at AS PSG and AS Monaco, to Shenzhen, where it attracted
Monaco and the Qatar Investment Authority purchased 47,000 spectators. But, above all, what has made the
Paris-Saint Germain in 2011, another four Ligue 1 difference on its recognition in this country was a deal
clubs have been acquired in some capacity by foreign struck in April 2018 by which two games per matchday
companies or individuals. With this influx of are broadcast live on CCTV5, the sports-dedicated TV
ownership money has come enhanced ambition in channel of China’s public media network.
the transfer market.
Much has been made of the interest of China in
And then come TV rights. On the domestic side, Ligue football. After much ado, the potential is finally being
1 found itself hampered with a deal of €726,5 million realised. During the last Fifa World Cup, 14 out of
per year between 2016 and 2020 – well below the €1 the 20 biggest audiences for games worldwide were
billion milestone that had already been surpassed by registered on CCTV1 and CCTV5 broadcasts. Despite
the rest of the top five European leagues. This changed being aired at 11pm on a Sunday, the final between
last year, when Mediapro ruffled established media Croatia and France managed to keep 55 million China
feathers with a €1.153 billion deal for the TV rights of residents in front of their TV sets. The very game that
France’s top tier on its home soil, overhauling historic cheered up the city of Roubaix on an afternoon in July
broadcaster Canal+ from 2020 on. As things stand, was the best possible advertisement for French football
Ligue 1 is the third most valuable league of Europe, in its quest to better export itself.
TV-wise, on standings that are still led by an English
Premier League.
Abroad, the recognition of the Ligue 1 brand and
competition is growing steadily. The profit the clubs
make out of international TV rights increases slowly.
Those rights are subject to a long-term deal with BeIN
Sports, inked in 2013 and valid until 2023, by which the
Qatari broadcaster is responsible for the reselling of
the TV rights worldwide for the relatively small sum of
€80 million, and every amount generated in excess of
Gigi Buffon’s PSG
took on AS Monaco
in the Trophée
des Champions in
Shenzhen in 2018.
27LEADERS
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