Our Take on Paris FC’s Acquisition by LVMH and Red Bull, and Major League Soccer's Global Content Partnership with OneFootball
October's Sports Tech Round-Up is here!
From new strides in fan engagement to the latest in sports tech developments, there’s plenty to dive into this month.
Read on to know our perspectives on two big industry moves this month: LVMH and Red Bull's acquisition of Paris FC and MLS’s partnership to distribute its highlights content globally with OneFootball, aimed at amplifying the league’s global reach.
We hope you enjoy this edition:
LVMH's Arnault, Red Bull partner to take over Paris FC
French billionaire and LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault has partnered with Red Bull to take control of the French second-tier club.
🔎 Our Take:
As French football navigates the turbulent media rights arena—highlighted by the broadcast rights challenges ahead of the 2024-2025 season—the timing of the LVMH and Red Bull takeover of Paris FC seems to have arrived at a good time.
With LVMH’s ability to create high-profile, global brands (DIOR, Celine, etc) and Red Bull’s run-of-the-mill sports marketing approach, this partnership promises to inject fresh energy into Ligue 2 (for this season at least, considering the club's strong start to the current campaign), positioning Paris FC as a club with upscale appeal and strong growth potential.
Paris FC's association with one of the world’s most recognisable luxury conglomerates could give French football a valuable spotlight—one it’s been vying for, especially at a time when attracting a global audience and enticing broadcasters remains a priority. The entry of luxury brand equity into the ecosystem could intrigue media partners to rethink the commercial appeal of French clubs, bringing a fresh narrative that elevates French football’s attractiveness for media rights investments.
Beyond media value, the emergence of another competitive club in Paris could elevate the city’s sports landscape to match those of London, Madrid, or Berlin, with vibrant football ecosystems driven by neck-to-neck and dynamic rivalries.
If this takeover succeeds in amplifying Paris FC's presence and engagement, it will prove once again how football clubs can prove to be valuable assets as long as new owners have an understanding of its ecosystem and how it must be run to be successful. A strategic alignment between lifestyle branding and a football club is certainly not new to French football fans, following the Qatari group's takeover of PSG over a decade ago. However, this move can set a new precedent, reshaping Ligue 1’s reputation as a league with untapped commercial potential and undervalued assets.
Major League Soccer Partners with OneFootball to Bring MLS Content Across the Globe and Will Become Shareholder of Company
OneFootball to distribute highlights and coverage of hundreds of matches across MLS, MLS NEXT Pro and MLS NEXT, MLS to join OneFootball’s Club Advisory Board
🔎 Our Take:
With partnerships like Serie A and MLS joining over 200 other leagues in its portfolio, OneFootball has quickly become a major player in football media. Its direct-to-consumer (D2C) offerings, strategic media rights acquisitions for niche leagues like the Indian Super League, and extensive highlight reels have made the platform nearly omnipresent in the sport. The MLS partnership with OneFootball is a multi-faceted and strategic alliance involving equity investment as well.
For MLS, this partnership opens doors to a global audience, which is especially valuable as the league garners unprecedented international interest with the arrival of stars like Lionel Messi. OneFootball’s global reach is powered not only by league partnerships and shareholders such as Real Madrid, Chelsea FC, and Juventus but also by a collaboration with Yahoo Sports, which brings Yahoo's wide audience to OneFootball’s mix of original and aggregated content.This move aligns with MLS’s broader growth strategy—two years into its global media rights deal with Apple, Commissioner Don Garber notes that the early returns are promising.
With Apple’s unmatched data insights driving fan subscriptions, the league aims to reach profitability as the revenue-share model kicks in. This partnership builds MLS’s profile in the lead-up to the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the U.S., allowing MLS to tap into insights on fan engagement with highlights, which resonate particularly with younger viewers (58% of Gen Z fans prefer watching highlights over full games, compared to 46% of millennials, per Morning Consult)OneFootball's proprietary Customer Data Platform (CDP), "Matchmaker," is another asset in this strategy, merging zero- and first-party data with third-party insights to deepen audience understanding.
As a shareholder in OneFootball, MLS gains a unique vantage point into fan behaviour and has opportunities to learn from top global leagues on its journey to becoming a premier football brand worldwide.
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