Major European football league set to be renamed after McDonald’s as fans cry ‘we can’t take this seriously’

FRANCE’S top flight is set to be renamed Ligue 1 McDonald’s after the fast-food giants reportedly agreed a £17million-a-year deal.

The league has been known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats since the food delivery service secured its first title sponsorship ahead of the 2020-21 season.

Getty

Luis Enrique speaks into a microphone emblazoned with the Ligue 1 Uber Eats logo[/caption]

Getty

The league is set to be renamed Ligue 1 McDonald’s[/caption]

Uber Eats were believed to initially pay £12.8m a season, before renewing to the end of the 2023-24 campaign for £14.5m per campaign.

According to French outlet RMC Sport, McDonald’s will take over after agreeing Ligue 1’s largest naming sponsorship deal to date at £17m a year.

Ligue 1’s introduction of a naming partner in 2020 came amid the Covid-19 pandemic and a saga surrounding their TV rights deal.

Unlike the Premier League, French football’s 2019-20 season never resumed following its suspension in March 2020.

In 2018, Mediapro agreed to shell out a record €814m (£700m) per season to broadcast Ligue 1 matches.

When the Spanish company subsequently started missing payments after falling into financial difficulties, Ligue 1 terminated the contract and resold the rights.

Prior to Ligue 1’s reduction from 20 teams to 18 this season, Canal+ broadcast two of the 10 matches each weekend, with Amazon stepping in to pay €259m (£220m) for the remaining eight.

This saw the league have to sell their TV rights at a huge discount to the initial Mediapro deal.

Earlier this season Ligue 1 bosses cancelled an auction for the next rights package due to not receiving the offers that they were hoping for.

In January RMC Sport claimed that Dazn had emerged as main contenders to land the 2024-2029 rights package, with the streaming service reportedly set to up their bid.

The TV deal saga has led to Ligue 1 placing further emphasis on maximising other revenue streams, ultimately leading to the naming deal with McDonald’s.

Mocking the McDonald’s partnership, one fan wrote on social media: “We can’t take this seriously.”

While a second moaned: “They went for an even worse name.”

A third commented: “McDonald’s league is genuinely insane.”

And another added: “Messi played in the McDonald’s league.”

McDonald’s have reportedly agreed a deal with Ligue 1Getty