Brest announce 89% drop in Ligue 1 TV rights revenue

Stade Brestois have shed some light on their current financial situation via a press release from the club president, Denis Le Saint.

Last season, the club experienced Champions League football for the first time in its history. However, the financial situation gripping French football left the club entering the current campaign with one of the smallest budgets in the league, as head coach Eric Roy told reporters at the end of August, “It’s true that we don’t have any means. But I am still shocked that we have a smaller budget than Metz, who are coming up from Ligue 2, when we are just coming out of the Champions League. But, well, it’s unfortunately the state that the club is in.”

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Le Saint writes that there has been an 89% drop in television rights since the 2023/24 season, “Our revenues linked to national TV rights paid by the LFP, increased from €42.5m in 2023/24 (including €15m in TV rights + €11m in ranking bonus + €16.5m from the last CVC payment), to €8.7m in 2024/2025, and to €4.5m (domestic and international TV rights) in the 2025/26 financial year.”

Le Saint further explained that Brest received €50m from their involvement in the Champions League. However, he revealed that half of this went towards increasing the squad’s budget for the season (such as bringing in players so they could compete on two fronts), while there were also expenses associated with competing in the tournament, such as hosting games at Stade de Roudourou (as their home ground of the Stade Francis Le Blé was considered not fit for purpose by UEFA).

For Le Saint, the hope for Brest lies in their new stadium, the Arkéa Park. A stadium that Brest believes will diversify their revenue streams, an important feature, particularly if they cannot rely on French football righting itself from its ongoing financial situation in the near future. As Le Saint states, “This is precisely the purpose of our investment in Arkéa Park, a structuring and efficient tool to secure the future of Brest over the long term.”

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