Spanish basketball’s top-flight Liga ACB has opted to end its long-standing domestic broadcast partnership with Telefonica-owned pay-TV network Movistar, and will instead move to rival OTT platform DAZN in a new multi-year deal.
DAZN will cover every round of the Liga ACB, from the start of the 2025-26 campaign, including post-season playoffs and the league-ending finals, and, for the first time since the 2016-17 campaign, will offer one match per week on free-to-air TV.
The OTT service is reportedly in talks with Spanish public-service broadcaster RTVE, which held the rights prior to Movistar, to facilitate that free-to-air broadcast commitment.
Additionally, there is also the prospect of regional broadcasters (a staple prior to the Movistar deal) returning to the broadcast fold, as the league looks to balance
Through the partnership, DAZN will also showcase the Copa del Rey knockout competition.
That free-distribution element must be a focus for the Liga ACB, as the competition is reportedly taking a lower media rights fee than the reported current €20 million ($23.6 million) that Movistar is paying, with DAZN said to be paying only €14 million to €14.5 million per year.
The Movistar Plus service has broadcast Liga ACB since 2015, when it took over from RTVE.
This new partnership is a blow for Movistar, which has focused on its basketball offering in recent years, particularly in its coverage of the top Spanish teams, for which it renewed its rights to the pan-European EuroLeague competition earlier in 2025 (rights it won from DAZN).
At the time, Movistar Plus chief executive Daniel Domenjo commented on the brand’s “unmatched content offering featuring the best of the main [European sports] competitions,” which will now suffer without the Liga ACB.
For DAZN, on the other hand, this move helps the OTT service consolidate its strong presence in the Spanish sports market.
Alongside Movistar, DAZN holds rights to Spanish soccer’s elite LaLiga, among other prominent pickups in recent years.
Recently, DAZN’s chief executive for Spain and Portugal Oscar Vilda commented that the streamer will reach profitability in the region "this year or as early as 2026."
