Naming rights for the French Ligue 1 are set to change shortly. The division currently has a sponsorship deal in place with Uber Eats. In the agreement, the online food ordering and delivery platform pays Ligue 1 $16-$17 million per season. This agreement has been in place for the last three years.

Nevertheless, Uber Eats, according to French reports, did not want to continue the deal at this particular price. As a result, league officials have been working on securing a new sponsorship agreement over the last few weeks. It now seems as if McDonald’s is pushing to strike a deal.

RMC Sport reporter Daniel Riolo has revealed that McDonald’s recently sent an official offer to Vincent Labrune, the French Football Federation president. The reporter went on to say that the American fast-food company will top the league’s previous Uber Eats agreement.

“They (UberEats) did not want to continue paying at that price, and there was an offer submitted to Vincent Labrune with a tidy sum,” claimed Riolo. “It’s an offer from McDonald’s. They haven’t yet planned the communication for the junk food and everything, they’re working on it. It’ll be around €60 million ($65 million) over three years. It’s a clear increase.”

McDonald’s not the most prestigious sponsor possible

Although the deal is not yet official, it certainly seems as if an agreement between the two sides is close. As the world’s largest fast-food chain, McDonald’s is the most recognizable brand on the globe. They currently have more than 40,000 restaurants worldwide and employ around 1.7 million people. 1,800 of these restaurants are in France.

Despite this, McDonald’s does not necessarily have the best reputation as a company. For example, the American restaurant is widely seen as a cheap value brand. Although Ligue 1 Uber Eats is also not a prestigious sounding name, Ligue 1 McDonald’s sounds even worse.

Other top European soccer leagues such as the LaLiga and Serie A have more esteemed corporate sponsorships in place. The Spanish top flight currently has an agreement with EA Sports. The Italian league, on the other hand, is known as Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons. England’s Premier League was also previously referred to as the Barclay’s Premier League up until 2016.

Officials are hoping to finalize an agreement in coming weeks

Nevertheless, most soccer fans do not typically refer to these leagues along with their corporate sponsors. Like these other divisions, the French league’s potential agreement with McDonald’s will not affect fans’ understanding of the league.

As with most topics regarding professional sports, money is fueling these sponsorship deals. Ligue 1 officials will welcome the news of an agreement with the massive fast-food company. After all, the division has struggled recently to secure a new media rights deal with television networks.

Ligue 1 officials and McDonald’s are ironing out the final details regarding a deal in the coming days. The aforementioned report claims that an agreement could become official during an upcoming board of directors meeting later this month.

PHOTOS: IMAGO.