LFP says 59% of football fans watch Ligue 1 illegally | OneFootball

More than half of football fans are watching Ligue 1 through pirate streams this season. According to L'Équipe, the LFP and its commercial arm LFP Media put the share at 59% since the start of 2025-2026.

The figures were presented on Monday at a conference organised by the Association pour la protection des programmes sportifs. The update underlined that illegal viewing of the French top flight is still rising.

Within the 35% of the population said to consume sport illicitly on screens, Ligue 1 is the most pirated competition in France.

An Ipsos study commissioned by LFP Media, based on a panel of 3,000 people, estimates that 2 million individuals are pirating the competition this season. Matches are available legally on Ligue 1+ and beIN Sports.

LFP Media’s legal director Douglas Lowenstein said piracy represents a revenue shortfall in the hundreds of millions of euros for Ligue 1+, adding that about one fifth of football fans in France refuse to pay to watch the sport.

Source: L'Équipe