May 14, 2021
ESPN, Disney owns, has obtained the rights to broadcast La Liga in the United States through the end of the 2028/29 season.
The financial terms of the eight-year deal weren’t revealed to the public. Still, according to Sportico, ESPN will pay the Spanish soccer authority US$175 million a year, totalling US$1.4 billion throughout the contract.
According to the sports business outlet, it is now the most valuable US media rights arrangement for an overseas soccer league.
Beginning with the 2021/22 season, ESPN+, the broadcaster's subscription streaming service, will receive live and on-demand coverage of 380 top-flight events a year. In addition, ESPN+ will also broadcast several games from La Liga SmartBank, Spain's second division, as well as five promotion playoffs. Every game will be broadcasted in both English and Spanish.
La Liga had to buy back its US media rights from Qatar-based broadcaster BeIN Sports, which was set to be the league's exclusive broadcast partner in the US until the conclusion of the 2023/24 season to reach an agreement with ESPN.
With Disney stating this week that ESPN+ already has 13.8 million users, the league's new partnership with ESPN will position it alongside several other premium sports brands while also exposing it to a large US audience.
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