All Ligue 1 stadiums experience the same phenomenon, and the Stade du Ray on Saturday will be no exception to this custom: a blue and white tide inevitably floods the stands. For many, such enthusiasm around a club is fantastic. Not wrong, but what is true, and it’s mathematical, is that the other clubs are losing the supporters that OM is stealing from them.
Téléfoot turns the Marseille-Metz match, a bottom of the table duel, into the highlight of the ninth day. Surprising… But marketable. Viewers stay until the end of the show, and advertising rates are affected. The same scenario repeats each broadcast: there is always a good reason to talk about OM: “Is Fernandez threatened?”, “Finally a victory for Marseille?”
“Since Marseille has been overpublicized, our club has been continuously losing supporters. It’s a vicious circle and nothing can stop it. The media have understood that by saturating their readers, viewers, and listeners with reports on OM, they are assured an audience. On the other hand, our club is dying and no one cares. Our regional daily, Midi-Libre, dedicates twice as many articles to Marseille than to us.” This heartbreak turning into a cry of alarm for French soccer comes from a Montpellier supporter. As he says, his club no longer interests anyone. Montpellier Hérault Sport Club is the first victim of the ‘over-mediatization’ of Marseille.
Several reasons for this. The first: proximity to Marseille. Also, poor results. Supporters not fully committed are gradually drifting away. Soccer fans, they love their comfy sofa and, with a beer in hand, they position themselves in front of their TV to watch soccer. Ligue 1 matches on Canal+, Téléfoot on TF1 Sunday morning, and “On refait le match” on RTL Monday evening. Three days, three shows, and three times OM is featured. Psychological harassment takes place, and week after week, they unknowingly become OM supporters.
This is a real danger for the modest elite clubs: Sochaux, Toulouse, Ajaccio, Metz… Few matches are broadcast, few reports, in short, minimal media coverage. Difficulty in finding sponsors as a first consequence, and the budgets suffer. The squads and results too. The vicious circle sets in. Mediocre results and even less media coverage (only the matches against OM are broadcast, a thirty-second summary on Téléfoot, and thirty seconds on RTL!). In the worst case, like Louis Nicollin’s team (Montpellier), the club finds itself forever in the infernal battles of Ligue 2.
French football will suffer. In the medium to long term, the ‘small’ clubs are likely to suffer financially. What should be done? A six-team league with only the teams that make money for radio and TV channels? As in politics, where speaking time is evenly distributed, it might be necessary to consider giving all 20 Ligue 1 teams the same broadcast time during the season. Another solution: share equally the profits that OM earns from merchandising…
The fervor around this club stirs jealousy and envy. Why OM? The ritual answer is logical and uncontestable: they are the only French club to have won the Champions League. That was in 1993. Since then, the emptiness of the trophy cabinet has not changed things: the good television fairy has hovered over the Olympian cradle for a long time. A cruel fate for the other clubs.
Few clubs in France are safe from the Montpellier phenomenon: Saint-Etienne, Lens, and Paris, of course. Nice, with its revival and the regrowth of the Nissart identity, seems safe. OGC jerseys are selling. The popular stands are always full. But, the results must follow. For this, supporters must remain loyal, even if they sometimes leave the Ray disappointed. Continue supporting the gym for Nice and for French football…
Vincent Trinquat