What drives sports TV rights? A comparative analysis of their evolution in English and French men’s football first divisions, 1980–2020

Abstract

This article consists of a comparative analysis of the evolution of TV rights in English and French men's football first divisions over the period 1980-2020. The focus is on four main independent variables: the characteristics of the sporting event, the structure of the TV market, the financial situation of subscription channels and the penetration of the sport in society (watching). Based on this, a framework is suggested with the identification of 16 more specific independent variables. Correlations are calculated between these variables and TV rights in England and France. They allow us to explain why TV rights for the former have become much larger than for the latter. This can be summarised as follows: larger domestic audiences for the English Premier League (EPL) leading to larger revenues for Sky in the United Kingdom and Ireland than Canal + in France with a greater incentive to invest money in TV rights due to more competition leading to better players so better games and larger audiences; and much larger international TV rights for the EPL than for the French Ligue 1 due to the quality of the games and the ability to "sell" the league internationally, in particular in attracting international players