Americans — the world, really — has a new reason to care about yet another European football league. That's not to say that Ligue 1 hasn't been important all along. It is, after all, the top flight of French football. It's indisputably among the Top 10 members of UEFA, the European football union, and more precisely one of the Top 5.
Toss Lionel Messi — fresh off his ouster from La Liga and Barcelona after nearly 20 years — into the mix, having signed with Paris-Saint Germain, and Ligue 1 just got that much more interesting.
But Ligue 1 hasn't been a major part of football outside Europe. At least not in the same way as the English Premier League, Spain's La Liga or Italy's Serie A have become. All of those are available either on major broadcast systems, or on top-shelf streaming options.
But it's time to throw Ligue 1 into the mix. Here's how to watch Messi — and the rest of the league that very much deserves your attention.
How to watch Ligue 1 in the United States
If you're in the United Sates and you're looking to watch Ligue 1, your best bet is going to be on beIN Sports. And you've got a couple options for that.
The least expensive way to watch Ligue 1 in the United States is with Sling TV. You can choose either the Sling Orange or the Sling Blue plan — they cost $35 if you only get one of them, or $50 a month if you opt for both. Then you'll need the $10-a-month World Sports add-on. In addition to beIN Sports, you'll get Premiere, beIN Sports Connect, Willow HD, Willow Xtra, and Nautical Channel.
So all-in, you can get Ligue 1 for as low as $45 a month (that's after the Sling TV free trial, of course), plus taxes and fees.
- Sling TV channels, packages and pricing
- How to watch Sling on a Vizio TV
- How many streams does Sling allow at once?
- Which devices work with Sling TV?
Slightly more expensive out of the gate (though not really, if you opt for more channels with Sling) is FuboTV. You'l get beIN Sports included in the FuboTV Starter package at $65 a month, which should cover your Ligue 1 needs.
There's also an interesting option for those who want the true French experience. For another $10 a month, you can add the French-language TV5MONDE add-on. That'll get you live coverage and highlights of Ligue 1 (again, all in French), plus Rugby Top 14, Conforama soccer, French films, news and lifestyle shows (subtitled, at that), plus more French films on demand.
And all that comes after you take advantage of the Fubo TV free trial, too.
How to watch Ligue 1 in the UK
If you're on the other side of the English Channel and are looking to keep up with Messi and PSG and Ligue 1, you've got a great option in BT Sport. That'l be your main way to watch the matches.
How to watch Ligue 1 from anywhere in the world
If you've found yourself outside your usual Ligue 1 viewing area but still want to get your French football on, you've got options. If you want to watch Ligue 1 matches from anywhere in the world, a simple VPN may be the route to go.
A Virtual Private Network takes your computer traffic and tunnels it through a specific set of servers in a specific location, which you can designate yourself. So even if you're not in, say, the United States — but you want to make all your computer traffic go through the United States, a VPN will get the job done nicely.
The catch is that you need to remember that all of your network traffic — encrypted and unencrypted alike — will go through that VPN. So you need one you can trust.
And for that, we've long been fans of ExpressVPN.
What teams are in Ligue 1?
PSG is the big name, of course, but it's hardly the only team playing in Ligue 1. Here's who all makes up the table for the 2021-22 season:
- AS Monaco
- Angers SCO
- AS Saint Étienne
- Estac Troyes
- FC Girondins de Bordeau
- FC Lorient
- FC Metz
- FC Nantes
- Losc Lille
- Montpellier Hérault SC
- OGC Nice
- Olympique Lyonnais
- Olympique de Marseille
- Paris Saint-Germain
- RC Lens
- RC Strasbourg Alsace
- Stade Brestois 29
- Stade Rennais FC
- Stade de Reims
