- The Ligue 1 Pass offered by Amazon Prime Video has accumulated 260 million losses according to figures from the firm NPA Conseil
- The offer does not constitute a considerable lever for recruiting and retaining subscribers either.
- However, it allows Amazon to Frenchify its image and settle in the tricolor media landscape.
The firm NPA Conseil published yesterday a veritable bombshell. Experts have indeed released figures on the results of the Ligue 1 Pass launched in 2021 by Amazon. The Tech giant thus spends 250 million euros a year to broadcast the first football division. He will have to decide in the fall if he is a candidate for the rights to broadcast this competition.
NPA Conseil carried out a barometer with the help of the Harris Interactive Institute and was able to observe that 5.6% of the French people questioned had subscribed to the Pass Ligue 1, this represents approximately 1.7 million people. Based on this total, analysts estimate that the turnover of this offer did not exceed 170 million euros per season, representing a net loss of 130 million each year.
Worse, the Ligue 1 Pass was not a decisive factor in recruiting subscribers and keeping them loyal to Amazon Prime. “While subscribers to the first represented almost a quarter of customers of the second at the end of 2021, the percentage has gradually fallen below 20%, and does not represent more today than when the plan was launched”reports NPA Consulting.
Note that Amazon refuses to communicate its number of subscribers country by country. Last year, our colleagues from echoes reported rumors of a base of ten million customer households in France.
Amazon Frenchifies its image
Before deciding whether to continue broadcasting Ligue 1, there is no doubt that Amazon will sift through all these figures to see if the operation is likely to prove profitable in the longer term.
But another factor could also come into play. We learned last month that Amazon began a public relations operation three years ago to restore its image in France. It is inspired by the strategy of McDonalds which used this tactic in the early 2000s.
To Frenchify its image, the firm of Jeff Bezos held a stand at the last Agricultural Show, and it communicates massively on its investments in France. But, in this context, broadcasting major French sports competitions such as Ligue 1 or the Roland Garros tennis tournament is an additional advantage.
Little by little, the American company, which once seemed disembodied, is getting closer to the daily life of supporters. And this proximity, even if it has a cost, is undoubtedly one of the best advertisements that the e-commerce giant can afford.
