Telefónica’s pain in Spain as pay-TV rivals close in on La Liga rights


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Juan Fernandez Gonzalez

| 23 February 2016




Telefónica's dream of getting exclusive La Liga programming for the next three seasons seems about to end, as pay-TV operators are nearing a content distribution deal with Mediapro and beIN Sports.



la ligaAccording to the newspaper Expansión, Vodafone, Orange and Telecable are going through final negotiations to close a La Liga content deal to 2019.

The potential agreement comes after interference from the Spanish watchdog, Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (CNMC) in the original negotiation between Mediapro and Telefónica.

Although final figures aren’t known, it's expected that Telefónica would see its initial €2.4 billion offer (for three seasons of both La Liga and the Champions League beIN Sports networks) reduced, due to its loss of exclusivity.

Ever since the initial La Liga content agreement was announced, competitors of Movistar+ have tried to stop it, as exclusive football rights would make for a line-up that would be too difficult to compete with.

The CNMC imposed restrictions on Telefónica when the telco acquired Canal+ last year, as the resultant pay-TV platform owns four million subs in a market with less than 5.5 million.