The 2025-2026 Ligue 1 season is concluding in an unprecedented financial context. Due to a request from the National Directorate of Management Control (DNCG), clubs had to establish their budget forecasts at the beginning of the season without taking into account revenues related to television rights, as uncertainty looms over the profits of Ligue 1+, the in-house channel launched by the Professional Football League with ambitious goals – one million subscribers in the first season, more than double within four years.
This will result in a new two-tiered championship, more pronounced than ever. PSG, freshly crowned with an unprecedented sextuple for French football, has dominated the hierarchy with a budget of 880 million euros, more than three times higher than that of its closest financial runner-up, Olympique de Marseille (280 M€).
A sporting ranking that does not entirely align with budgets
However, the sporting ranking, nearing its conclusion, offers some surprises in relation to the resources invested. While PSG logically finishes as champion, its runner-up Lens achieves the performance of the season by closely following the Parisian giant with a budget nine times lower.
At the other end of the scale, the budget-ranking correlation is harsher. Metz, last with only 40 million euros allocated to its season – the same amount as Auxerre, finish in the red zone, alongside Nantes with 50 million euros, and Nice with a budget of 120 million euros, marking the biggest overspending of the season.
Club budgets in Ligue 1 in 2025-2026: – Angers SCO = 25 M€ – Le Havre AC = 25 M€ – Stade Brestois = 35 M€ – FC Metz = 40 M€ – AJ Auxerre = 40 M€ – FC Nantes = 50 M€ – Toulouse FC = 50 M€ – FC Lorient = 60 M€ – Lens = 60 M€ – Stade Rennais = 110 M€ – Olympique Lyonnais = 110 M€ – Lille OSC = 110 M€ – RC Strasbourg = 110 M€ – OGC Nice = 120 M€ – Paris FC = 130 M€ – AS Monaco = 140 M€ – Olympique de Marseille = 280 M€ – Paris SG = 880 M€
