Ligue 1 – The least attractive of the TOP 5 leagues

Ligue 1 has been the weakest for years if we count the five strongest European leagues. The championship is expected to be more uncertain this season, but PSG is again the biggest favorite for the title.

Ligue 1 2024/25: Never less attractive names

Ligue 1 has further lost its attractiveness this season due to the departure of Kylian Mbappe, who finally realized the much-desired transfer to Real Madrid. We will see how that departure will affect PSG, which despite the departure of the aforementioned player will once again have the highest quality squad. PSG has been dominating Ligue 1 for years, and only Monaco and Lille have shocked the richest French team in the past decade by taking the title.

Manchester City and Bayern have established dominance in the Premier League and Bundesliga, but for years those leagues have been much more attractive than Ligue 1, which domestic stars generally avoid and go to other leagues from the TOP 5 strongest European leagues. PSG tried to influence the marketing rise of Ligue 1 by bringing in players like Neymar, Messi, Mbappe but not much was achieved.

PSG is the absolute ruler of this competition, but in Europe it did not reach the desired goal because, despite the huge amount of money invested, it did not reach the trophy in the Champions League, which, for example, Manchester City managed to do. It is clear that Ligue 1 will be better when there is another team that could vaporize PSG in the long run, but it seems that there is no such team in France at the moment.

We watched the stumbles of French giants like Marseille and Lyon, which got a rich owner, but in the first season, the team was even in the relegation zone at one point. American businessman John Textor has not made a name for himself in the management of the team that dominated Ligue 1 at the beginning of the 2000s, but he seems to be right about one thing, which concerns the serious failure that this competition made in terms of TV rights.

The French wanted to be like the Premier League because they thought they were worth so much, but they made a huge mistake. A price of one billion euros was set and no one wanted to broadcast the competition, but the situation was still resolved by selling Ligue 1 rights to DAZN and BEIN for half the price.

After the low ratings, the rights holders threatened to terminate the five-year contract, so the league received even weaker conditions, and if the ratings do not improve, DAZN is ready to pay penalties and exit the contract. This contract was labeled by Textor as a shame for French football. “Signing a long-term contract under a traditional distribution model is a step backwards, instead of looking forward.”

There is a quite justified fear that the competition will be watched even less, especially after the departure of Mbappe, and if PSG is dominant again, it will further affect the viewership. It is difficult to say who is the biggest star of Ligue 1 after the departure of Mbappe and it is difficult to say that even one of them is at the level of the biggest stars from the other strongest leagues.

Of the 25 players who played for France at the last Euro, only seven of them will play in Ligue 1 and only two of the first team players will play in PSG, namely: Kolo Muani and Ousmane Dembele. PSG did not bring in any overly attractive names this summer, but they brought in very talented players in the form of Joao Neves, Desire Doue, Willian Pacho and Matvey Safonov. Marseille have high expectations this season as Roberto de Zerbi was brought to the bench, who has led all the teams he has worked in such as Sassuolo, Shakhtar and Brighton in a great way.

A crazy head was brought in, Mason Greenwood, about whom we wrote recently, and about 90,000,000 euros were allocated for reinforcements, and it seems that de Zerbi was a complete hit. A lot was expected from Marseille last season as well, and the fans would certainly be satisfied with the placement in the Champions League with the competitiveness of PSG as long as possible.

As in the previous seasons, a lot is expected from Monaco, which did not change the team too much, and the loudest reinforcement is Thilo Kehrer from West Ham, but it is far from the top class, so this team will be satisfied with a place in the Champions League. We will see if Lyon can make a step forward compared to the previous season and it will be interesting to see how Brest, who is playing in the Champions League this season after a great last season, will do.

In Ligue 1, the giant of French football, Saint-Etienne, who has only two titles less than PSG, will be playing again. The thing in which the French clubs lag behind the other strongest leagues the most are the results in Europe and that is what impairs the attractiveness of the competition. In the 21st century, French clubs played in the finals of European competitions four times, but they never left the field as champions. They need a breakthrough if they want to improve their reputation in Ligue 1.