By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
As per Le Parisien, the broadcaster and sponsor of the French Betclic Elite League, Skweek, is reportedly facing financial difficulties and has still not paid the production costs covered by L’Equipe.
The agreement for the broadcast of the French championship was signed last June between the National Basketball League, the L’Equipe channel, and the digital platform Skweek. However, according to the latest report, the production provided by 21 Production, a subsidiary of the L’Equipe group, has not been reimbursed since the start of the season, and the outstanding amount is estimated to be around two to three million euros.
“For the Basketball League, the situation is worrying but not dramatic or lethal. The issue concerns Skweek and L’Équipe and the content of what L’Équipe produces on behalf of Skweek. Unlike other sports, the financial balance of the League and our clubs does not depend on the TV contract, but we regret if this impacts the visibility of our sport. We will be as facilitative as possible,” said Philippe Ausseur, president of the Basketball League.
The broadcast of this weekend’s matches shouldn’t be questioned, but the situation is allegedly more problematic for the rest of the season. However, all parties are working to resolve the issue for the benefit of French basketball.
“We do not want to stop the production of matches; our priority is to find a solution to continue promoting French sport and basketball. But we must understand that financially, this is no longer tenable. We have production costs for each match, and it all adds up. We are very annoyed… We are all working to find a solution,” Le Parisien quotes the source within the L’Equipe group.
Skweek responded with a press release.
“It is important to specify that two contracts link Skweek to the L’Équipe group. The first is the licensing contract, for which L’Équipe cedes the broadcasting rights for the entire French Championship to Skweek. The second is a production contract in which Skweek entrusted the production and direction of the meetings to 21 Production, a subsidiary of L’Équipe. TV rights were paid regularly. We are working with the L’Équipe group to regularize the situation as quickly as possible. We continue to work closely with the LNB and the L’Équipe group to grow French basketball and its clubs,” as stated.
Meetings are reportedly planned for the next few days to find a solution and avoid any trouble for French basketball.