France’s TV audiences for Les Bleus slide as World Cup nears | OneFootball

With the World Cup running from 11 June to 19 July, France’s men are no longer a sure-fire TV draw. According to L'Équipe, TF1’s broadcasts now struggle to top five million viewers and the six million mark has not been cleared for ten months.

Sunday’s Colombia-France friendly, a 3-1 defeat for Les Bleus, drew 4.7 million viewers for a 25.6% share. Brazil-France on Thursday, a 2-1 loss, attracted 5.05 million and 31.4%.

In March 2023, Euro qualifiers against the Netherlands, 4-0, and Ireland, 1-0, drew 7.65 million and 8.06 million, with TF1 averaging 35%.

The last audience above six million came on 5 June 2025, a 4-5 Nations League semi-final defeat to Spain. TF1 also argues 20:45 kick-offs for Nations League and qualifiers depress figures, and 21:00 friendlies have not lifted them.

Commercially, the federation and TF1 agreed in July 2022 to pay 3.5 M€ per match until 2028, excluding Euros and World Cups. M6 stepped away after sharing rights from 2018 to 2022, with Nicolas de Tavernost citing losses of about 2 M€ per game and eroding interest in low-stakes fixtures.

He also points to an ageing TV audience while football’s is younger, plus rising identification with the XV de France. Outside World Cups, rugby’s ratings have overtaken football’s in the past two years. Major tournaments still look strong, with M6 to show 54 free-to-air matches in each of the next two editions and beIN Sports the whole event this summer in North America and Mexico.

Source: L'Équipe