DAZN, Movistar Split La Liga’s Rights In $5.58B Deal

La Liga has inked its longest broadcasting rights deal ever — a five-year agreement split by DAZN and Telefónica’s Movistar. The pair will each air five matches per week.

The deal, worth $5.58 billion, starts in the 2022-23 season and ends Movistar’s run as the league’s main domestic broadcaster. 

Telefónica’s current three-year deal with the league is worth roughly $3.32 billion. Despite the number of pay-TV subscriptions falling by 4 million since the 2016-17 season, the new deal is a slight annual increase from $1.1 billion to $1.12 billion per season. 

While the deal’s annual increase is small, the jump shows La Liga’s strength compared to its counterparts.

• Serie A, Ligue 1, and Bundesliga’s domestic broadcasting deals signed in the last year all saw a decrease in value.
• The Premier League rolled over existing deals with the same terms.

Interest In La Liga

In May, La Liga reached an eight-year broadcasting deal with ESPN. In July, Orange, a French telecom company, renewed its sublicensing agreement with Telefónica for rights to La Liga and UEFA club competitions in a $356 million deal.

This month, La Liga also ratified its agreement with CVC Capital Partners in which the equity firm would spend $2.3 billion for an 8.2% stake in a new company that would oversee the league’s media rights. The deal was approved by 37 of 42 teams.