Spanish soccer’s top-tier LaLiga has today (August 9) announced the renewal of its French-language broadcast rights deal covering sub-Saharan Africa, Mauritius and Madagascar, with pay-TV giant Canal Plus.
In a statement, LaLiga said the deal will see Canal Plus retain exclusive rights in those territories for "several seasons".
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It begins with the start of the 2022-23 campaign on Friday, August 12, and will see Canal+ continue to offer live coverage, on both its linear and digital platforms, from every round of both the top-tier LaLiga and second-tier LaLiga SmartBank in the coming season.
The previous main French-language rights-holder for LaLiga in these regions was rival pay-TV broadcaster StarTimes, which struck a deal in August 2020.
The last deal between Canal+ and LaLiga, meanwhile, was also struck just before the start of the 2020-21 campaign and has now been extended.
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English-language rights to LaLiga in sub-Saharan Africa are held by dominant South African pay-TV network SuperSport, also through 2023-24.
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By GlobalDataSub-Saharan African players currently contracted to LaLiga teams include Samuel Chukwueze at Villareal, Geoffrey Kondogbia at Atletico Madrid, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at Barcelona.
The deal means that for 2022-23, Canal+ will offer its sub-Saharan African subscribers action from all major European soccer leagues – England’s Premier League, Germany’s Bundesliga, Serie A in Italy, France's Ligue 1, and now LaLiga.
The most recent renewal before this came late last month, with the broadcaster’s tie-up to cover Premier League action being extended.
Last week, LaLiga announced a strategic long-term partnership with Beijing-based Streamline Media Technology to launch a new streaming platform in China.
The LaLiga Plus live streaming application will be home to both LaLiga and the Segunda Division from the beginning of 2022-23.
Described as a direct-to-consumer (DTC) exclusive brand dedicated application solution, the platform will offer different packages to fans through a freemium model combining free and paid matches.
Viewers will have access to all 380 LaLiga matches and for the first time in China, all 462 matches and promotion play-offs of the Segunda Division will also be available to viewers in the country.
August has also seen the league bring in Electronic Arts (EA) as its title sponsor from the start of the 2023-24 season.
The multi-year agreement will come into effect from the start of the 2023-24 season and will see the company’s EA Sports FC brand hold naming rights for all LaLiga competitions.
In addition, the partnership will include a complete rebrand of LaLiga with EA Sports including all logos, graphics, fonts, and other visual elements, while also delivering new in-game integration, broadcast highlights, and joint commitments to supporting grassroots initiatives.
EA will replace Spanish bank Santander when its present title sponsorship agreement expires at the end of 2022-23.
