Telefónica re-secures LaLiga after new tender

Source: Telefónica

Spain’s LaLiga has re-awarded domestic broadcast rights to Spanish top-tier football for the second half of the 2024-25 season and the 2025-26 and 2026-27 seasons to Telefónica following an intervention by the Spanish markets regulator over the terms of a previous award.

The Spanish telco, which will share the rights with streamer DAZN, had previously struck an agreement with LaLiga for rights from 2021-27, but the CNMC argued that Telefónica should not have been allowed to buy rights for a period over three years in length under the terms of its acquisition of pay TV operator Digital+.

With the term limit subsequently abolished, Telefónica was able to take part in a new tender process and secure rights under the same terms as those struck by DAZN.

LaLiga said it had promoted the award to Telefónica because of the legal uncertainty brought about from the telco’s commitments at the time of the Digital+ merger.

The league said it was satisfied with the new award because it maintained the arrangement between Telefónica and DAZN, which had enabled greater access to football by fans.

The latest award sees LaLiga’s Lot 1, including five matches each match-day of the first division aired on pay TV and free-to-air, and Lot 3, providing one day of the first division championship of the second half of the 2024-25 season, including 10 matches, and three days of the 2025-26 and 2026-27 seasons, again with 10 matches, all awarded to Telefónica.