Tag: LaLiga

La Liga Coverage Finally Secure as Premier Sports Secures Rights

Premier Sports has secured the rights to show Spanish La Liga football until the end of the 2021/22 season, replacing ITV4 who had temporary rights for the start of the season.

A new channel called La Liga TV will be made available on the Premier Player streaming service from October. This channel is also expected to launch on the Sky satellite platform from January 2020. Prior to the new channel joining Sky, the La Liga matches can be found on Premier Sports 1 and 2 (which can be found on Sky and Virgin Media).

Sister channel Freesports will also show highlights and selected matches.

Eleven Sports Suspends Subscriptions

Eleven Sports has suspended subscription payments for UK customers, following the loss of La Liga rights. The La Liga rights failed to sell, and a permanent deal has to be agreed with ITV4 showing some matches as a temporary measure.

Eleven Sports were unable to secure a carriage agreement for a service on a traditional TV platform, following the launch of the online service in 2018. As a result, the channel lost most of its rights to a variety of international football leagues. The last remaining rights were the La Liga matches, for which a basic £4.99 subscription fee was charged.

Eleven Sports has advised customers that the subscription fees have been suspended pending clarification of the La Liga rights beyond the first three matches day. Eleven Sports services in other countries continue unaffected.

ITV4 Continues LaLiga Partnership

The UK rights for LaLiga football failed to sell, however ITV are continuing an existing partnership for the first 3 match days as an interim measure.

Athletic Bilbao v FC Barcelona will be shown tonight (Friday) on ITV4 at 8pm, with FC Barcelona v Real Betis (8pm on Sunday 25th August), and Villareal CF v Real Madrid (8pm on Sunday 1st September) to follow. Highlights programmes will follow each match day.

A last minute alteration to darts coverage on ITV4 has been made, with the darts to be shown either side of the football.

ITV4 is on all linear TV platforms, with additional HD versions on Sky and Virgin media. Coverage of the LaLiga matches will also be available on the ITV Hub on-demand platform.