France Football

What France Football does

France Football is a French football media brand founded in 1956 and operated by L'Équipe 24/24, a simplified joint-stock company owned by the Amaury Group and headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt. It publishes a flagship monthly football magazine available in print and via the PaperEditions digital reader, and operates the francefootball.fr website carrying football news, Ballon d'Or coverage, and links to L'Équipe's live-match service. Its core commercial asset is the Ballon d'Or, the world's most prestigious individual football award, first given to Stanley Matthews in 1956 and now broadcast in over 120 countries via La Chaîne L'Équipe; the award family has been expanded to include the Ballon d'Or Féminin (since 2018), the Trophée Kopa for best U-21 player (since 2018), the Trophée Yachine for best goalkeeper (since 2019), and the Club de l'année awards.

The business model is consumer media: print and digital subscriptions, newsstand sales, and commercial monetization of the annual Ballon d'Or ceremony through broadcast rights and sponsorship. The 2026 ceremony is being co-organized with UEFA and relocated to London to mark the 70th anniversary of Matthews' win, signaling an intent to internationalize the brand beyond its French base. Distribution is multi-channel: digital via francefootball.fr and the L'Équipe platform, physical via French newsstands, social media (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook), and broadcast via the Amaury-owned L'Équipe TV channel. Underlying technology is conventional media infrastructure (PaperEditions reader, GDPR-compliant web platform, live-match integration with L'Équipe); there is no disclosed AI/ML capability in the editorial or recommendation stack.

The customer base is a horizontally distributed B2C audience of football fans and sports enthusiasts consuming news, player rankings, and award coverage. France Football is embedded in the broader Amaury ecosystem alongside L'Équipe.fr, ASO (organizers of the Tour de France), and Pressesports, which provides cross-promotional distribution but constrains independent commercial optionality. Specific pricing tiers and revenue figures are not publicly disclosed.

Name

France Football

Legal name

L'Équipe 24/24, Société par Actions Simplifiée

Website

https://francefootball.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

1956

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

France Football, founded 1956 and owned by Groupe Amaury, publishes a flagship football magazine in print and digital formats and organizes the Ballon d'Or award family, serving football fans globally through subscriptions, newsstand sales, and broadcast rights across 120+ countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sports Media

NAICS

Spectator Sports (71121), Periodical Publishers (51312), Spectator Sports (7112), Other Spectator Sports (711219)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721), Television Broadcasting Stations (4833), Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Association Football (Soccer) Leagues (MPAKAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Sports & Recreation Magazines (MPAJAEAJ), Team Sports Matches (Club & National) (MPAGAMAB), International Sports Broadcasters & Rights Channels (MPABAEAE)

Keywords

• Sports journalism
• Football magazine
• Sports awards
• Football news
• Sports media

Headquarters

HQ city

Boulogne-billancourt

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

France Football publishes a flagship football magazine (available in print and as PaperEditions digital editions) covering football news, match analysis, and player statistics. It also organizes and operates the Ballon d'Or award franchise, including the men's Ballon d'Or, Ballon d'Or Féminin, Trophée Kopa (best under-21 player), Trophée Yachine (best goalkeeper), and Club de l'année awards, with the annual ceremony broadcast globally.

Product overview

France Football is a football media organization operating as a platform consisting of its core magazine product (available in print and as PaperEditions digital versions) and the prestigious Ballon d'Or award portfolio. The Ballon d'Or family includes the main men's Ballon d'Or, Ballon d'Or Féminin (women's), Trophée Kopa (best U-21 player), Trophée Yachine (best goalkeeper), and Club de l'année awards. Additional features include live match coverage (Match en direct) through integration with L'Équipe's platform. The company is owned by the Amaury Group alongside L'Équipe and operates primarily from Boulogne-Billancourt, France.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Ballon d'Or: The prestigious annual football award recognizing the world's best player, organized by France Football magazine
• Trophée Kopa
• Trophée Yachine

Products and services

• France Football Magazine Flagship weekly football magazine available in print and digital PaperEditions formats, offering football news, match coverage, player statistics, and editorial content about the Ballon d'Or and football generally.
• Ballon d'Or The prestigious annual football award recognizing the world's best male footballer, organized by France Football and UEFA, featuring a 30-nominee shortlist selected by the editorial team and voted on by international journalists.
• Ballon d'Or Féminin The women's football equivalent of the Ballon d'Or, recognizing the world's best female footballer with a 20-nominee shortlist.
• Trophée Kopa Award for the best male footballer under 21 years old, voted on by previous Ballon d'Or winners from a shortlist of 10 nominees.
• Trophée Yachine Award for the best male goalkeeper of the year, named after Soviet keeper Lev Yachine.
• Club de l'année (Masculin/Féminin) Awards recognizing the best men's and women's football clubs of the year based on performance and achievements.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• UEFAcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 May 2026France Football and UEFA co-organize the Ballon d'Or ceremony. The partnership was confirmed when co-organizers France Football magazine and UEFA announced the relocation of the 2026 ceremony to London to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Stanley Matthews becoming the first English winner in 1956. UEFA's involvement elevates the award's legitimacy in European football governance.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• So Foot: Independent French football magazine and digital outlet. Comparable as a French-language football-specialist publication competing for the same reader wallet and dedicated football readership.

Broad incumbents

• Sports Illustrated: Iconic multi-sport magazine and digital property. Comparable as a flagship sports periodical with award franchises and a parallel print-plus-digital legacy model facing the same secular headwinds as France Football.
• ESPN: Dominant global multi-sport broadcaster and digital publisher. Comparable as a scaled platform that covers the Ballon d'Or itself and competes for the same football fan attention and advertising dollars.
• Sky Sports: UK-based premium sports broadcaster with extensive football coverage. Comparable as a major rights holder and editorial brand that drives football awards coverage and fans' go-to source for tournament storytelling.
• BBC Sport: Public-service sports broadcaster with large football footprint. Comparable as a high-reach editorial brand that covers the Ballon d'Or and competes for football news audience share.

Direct peers

• Marca: Spain's flagship football daily and digital property. Direct comparability on football-first journalism, awards coverage (including its own MVP trophies), and global Spanish-language football audience.
• AS (Diario AS): Madrid-based football-first daily with global Spanish-language reach. Comparable as a football-specialist media brand delivering news, awards, and player rankings to an international fan base.
• GOAL: Global football-only digital media brand owned by DAZN. Directly comparable as a football-purist outlet covering news, transfers, and awards; overlaps with France Football's audience and editorial remit.
• The Athletic: Subscription-based sports journalism outlet with deep football coverage. Comparable as a premium-content, digital-first sports news brand chasing engaged football fandom, now under NYT.
• L'Équipe: France Football's sister publication under L'Équipe 24/24 and Groupe Amaury. Closest direct peer: same parent, same editorial ecosystem, same subscription stack, and overlapping football coverage that fans often consume together.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/francefootball
• Facebookfacebook.com/Francefootball.fr
• Instagraminstagram.com/francefootball

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about France Football