ESPN Brasil, the Disney-owned pay-TV broadcaster, has renewed its rights deal for Spanish soccer’s Copa del Rey knockout cup competition and Supercopa de Espana (Super Cup).
Through an extended multi-year agreement with the RFEF, the Spanish soccer body, both competitions will continue to be shown on Disney’s main ESPN linear channel and Star+ streaming service.
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This season’s coverage began with last night’s Copa del Rey round of 32 matches.
The 2022-23 Supercopa, a four-team mini-tournament played in Saudi Arabia, will begin on Wednesday (January 11) with league holders Real Madrid facing last season’s Copa del Rey runners-up Valencia in the opening semi-final.
Reigning Copa champions Real Betis will take on last year’s league runners-up Barcelona in the other semi-final. The final will be played on January 15.
The RFEF launched its international media rights tender process for the next cycle of the Copa del Rey and Supercopa last June, covering 43 geographical areas.
The federation initially issued a tender for a three-year period, starting with the 2022-23 campaign and running through 2024-25 but said it was open to five-year offers until 2026-27.
The RFEF also recently secured an extended broadcast deal with ESPN in the US, as well as free-to-air digital terrestrial channel L’Equipe in France.
The renewed deal cements ESPN as the home of Spanish soccer in Brazil as it also holds rights to the top-tier LaLiga.
In total, it will show more than 400 games per season from Spanish competitions.
There is strong Brazilian interest in LaLiga with several national team stars featuring in the league including Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo, and Eder Militao at Real Madrid, and Raphinha at Barcelona, who all represented the country at the World Cup.
The extension bolsters Disney’s portfolio of international soccer rights that includes the English Premier League, France’s Ligue 1, Italy’s Serie A, and the Dutch and Portuguese leagues.
The broadcasting giant additionally holds rights to the Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana, and the Recopa Sudamericana South American club competitions.
Image: Angel Martinez/Getty Images
