French Ligue 1 to Reduce Number of Teams to 18 from 2023/24 Onwards

mazhar13

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This caught me by surprise, but then again, given the collapse of the Canal+ broadcasting deal, this becomes less of a surprise. The biggest benefits go to the existing Ligue 1 sides as they'd get more money out of it (increased media revenue). There will be more meaningful matches, and more TV money will be available now that there are 2 less clubs to get a slice of the pie.

2022/23 should be a particularly thrilling season to watch mainly because of the relegation battle.

Thoughts? Personally, I can see why they're doing it, but I'm a fan of seeing more teams play in the top flight and experience the better teams/players. It also allows me as a football fan to have greater access to young, promising players from those lower-end teams. In the end, I'd rather they stick to 20, but it's all about the money, and this will benefit Ligue 1 clubs, financially.
 

mazhar13

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Ooo look at the French with their ideas.

Assume it makes sense with the collapse of the broadcasting money. I wonder though if it's a good or bad thing for the lower leagues?
Obviously, it's a bad thing for them. It'll draw less eyes on the lower leagues, and there'll be way, way more competition for the Ligue 1 spots, which'll mean increased expenses and, thus, increased risk for the Ligue 2 clubs.
 

Vidyoyo

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Obviously, it's a bad thing for them. It'll draw less eyes on the lower leagues, and there'll be way, way more competition for the Ligue 1 spots, which'll mean increased expenses and, thus, increased risk for the Ligue 2 clubs.
Oh. I was thinking it might draw eyeballs if say a big top team were to be dragged down to Ligue 2. Perhaps not though
 

mazhar13

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Oh. I was thinking it might draw eyeballs if say a big top team were to be dragged down to Ligue 2. Perhaps not though
They'd have to be a very big name, then, like Lyon, Marseille, Monaco, or PSG. Looking at the most recent relegation battle, the biggest teams that were involved were Nantes, Lorient, and Strasbourg. They aren't necessarily well-known outside of France, unfortunately. None of the Ligue 2 clubs are particularly well-known outside of France (Toulouse being the most well-known club).
 

Ludens the Red

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They got rid of the league cup last year too and now this. Basically these lot just don’t wanna play much football do they?
 

horsechoker

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I actually think the Premier League should do this but people have tried to silence me.
 

JPRouve

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The idea isn't actually that recent unlike what the tweet is suggesting and also not the first time that the LFP voted in favour of it but there's been a reason to not do it almost every time. Also 20 clubs is relatively recent, it's only since 2001 and it hasn't really been a productive change.
 

mazhar13

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The idea isn't actually that recent unlike what the tweet is suggesting and also not the first time that the LFP voted in favour of it but there's been a reason to not do it almost every time. Also 20 clubs is relatively recent, it's only since 2001 and it hasn't really been a productive change.
Thanks for the background. I wasn't aware of how recently Ligue 1 decided to go up to 20 clubs. In that case, how do you think the lower-division French clubs will fare with this change?
 

JPRouve

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Thanks for the background. I wasn't aware of how recently Ligue 1 decided to go up to 20 clubs. In that case, how do you think the lower-division French clubs will fare with this change?
I should probably add that it was 20 teams in 95, I believe. And I don't know if it's going to change much for lower divisions, my understanding is that the National division will have 20 teams instead of 18, if L2 also reduces the amount of teams to 18 which is the future plan then the National division will have one year with 4 relegations but since there are 64 teams in N2, things will be deluted quite easily.
 

Lay

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I also think this would be good for the EPL.