Ibai Llanos, the Spanish internet celebrity, streamer, and esports commentator, has again entered the sports broadcasting space with a deal to show the upcoming Copa del Rey knockout soccer competition final on his YouTube channel.
Llanos boasts over 15.9 million subscribers on his primary YouTube channel and will host the game, as well as pre- and post-match analysis with other content creators.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
He will do so in conjunction with the traditional linear coverage on national network La 1 and the RTVE Player service.
The final of Spain’s premier knockout competition will take place tomorrow (April 18), with Atletico Madrid taking on Real Sociedad at Seville’s 70,000-capacity Estadio La Cartuja.
Real Sociedad, in particular, will be familiar with Llanos. In fact, Sociedad were involved in the first-ever live soccer match to be streamed by a major European league on Twitch.
The derby against Athletic Club in April 2021 was streamed on the Twitch channels of Gol, the free-to-air channel of the Mediapro agency, LaLiga, and Llanos, and drew over 500,000 views.
Now, Llanos will also be the first to stream a Copa del Rey match on YouTube.
The agreement was brokered by the Peak Sport Media agency, which is the international rights sales partner for the Copa del Rey, and was established in 2023 as a joint venture between advisory firm Ocho Sport and LaLiga.
Shamik Savjani, Peak strategy director, commented on the deal, saying: “The Copa del Rey is a competition with a rich history, and these kinds of initiatives help bring it closer to new fans in an innovative and authentic way.”
Live television rights to the Copa del Rey are held by Spanish public-service broadcaster RTVE, which retained rights to the competition last October for the 2025-27 cycle.
Llanos has a strong presence in Spanish soccer culture. Beyond his sports-focused content, he is also the president of a Kings League seven-a-side soccer team and one of the main faces of the digital-focused league in the market.
Seville, the capital of the country’s Andalusia region, will host the Copa del Rey final every year through 2028.
