ITV Secures La Liga Broadcast Rights
Author:
Megan Butler
British TV network ITV has secured the rights to broadcast La Liga. As part of a new three-season deal, football fans in the UK will be able to watch the prestigious Spanish league for free. La Liga is Spain’s top professional football division and features some of the world’s biggest and best clubs.
Football fans can look forward to ten La Liga matches per season, aired for free on ITV. ?Mario Cuadros/Pexels
Exclusive UK Rights
ITV has announced an exciting new deal with La Liga, in which it will broadcast some of the prestigious Spanish football league’s top matches. As part the newly announced three season deal, the matches will be broadcast live and exclusively free to air on ITV, ITV4 and ITV Hub.
Matches will be shown from the current season up to and including the 2024/25 season. ITV has secured the rights to broadcast ten matches per season, with either FC Barcelona, Real Madrid or Atlético Madrid appearing. That equates to one top-flight match per month.
Football fans can look forward to watching the channel’s first La Liga match, which will be aired on August 21st, following a deal with Premier Sports. Premier Sports is the main broadcast rights holder for La Liga in the UK. Real Sociedad will face off against FC Barcelona, with coverage beginning at 8:30pm and kick-off shortly after at 9pm.
ITV’s matches will also be made available to watch on Premier Sports and LaLigaTV, where all other available live games will be shown. Director of Sport at ITV, Niall Sloane, was delighted to reveal the news to sporting fans. Speaking to press, he spoke about what the deal would entail for followers of La Liga in the UK, stating:
“This deal ensures free to air coverage for all football fans of one of the most entertaining leagues in the world. The deal with Premier Sports will give fans the chance to see some of the most iconic clubs and world-class players in action, live on ITV.”
La Liga’s Director of Digital Strategy, Alfredo Bermejo, was also pleased to share news of the partnership. He described the decision as a positive step in supporting the league’s ambition to build new audiences and bring football to viewers everywhere.
Viaplay to Expand Into UK
ITV’s monthly La Liga games come as the channel’s latest addition to its football schedule. Last year, viewers were able to enjoy the 2021 Men’s Euros on ITV, with a top panel that included Sam Matterface and Lee Dixon. Ahead of the final, ITV made the unusual choice of airing “The Italian Job” to build up the ante ahead of England’s final against Italy. However, most viewers turned over to the BBC to watch the match ad-free.
ITV previously aired La Liga matches in 2019, when the Spanish league’s UK deal with Eleven Sports failed. As a result, the rights were made available to other British broadcasters. Following that event, Premier Sports acquired the rights, opting to show La Liga free of charge on FreeSports. That deal drew to a close at the end of the 2021/22 season, and FreeSports was later removed from Freeview. Premier Sports has also withdrawn La Liga from Virgin Media and Sky.
Later this year, La Liga coverage will also be made available on Viaplay, which announced plans to acquire Premier Sports in July. The Stockholm based streaming service holds sports broadcasting rights in multiple markets, including Nordic countries and the US. It plans to expand further into the UK, Canada and Germany by 2023.
Earlier this year, La Liga took the unusual step of broadcasting its first match live on social media app TikTok. Spanish broadcasters Gol showed the match in a vertical format, as Real Sociedad and Real Betis faced off against one another. According to Gol, the match was the first La Liga match to be aired in such a way, and the first game from a major European league to broadcast live on TikTok.
The stunt was intended to attract new audiences and enhance the exposure of Spanish football to viewers across the world. Speaking on behalf of TikTok Spain, Head of Content, Community and Associations Soraya Castellanos described the app as a place for football fans to connect.
Where to Watch La Liga
Those based in the UK have a number of options available to them when it comes to watching the new La Liga season. For those who don’t want to pay, ITV will show one match featuring the top teams per month.
There is also LaLigaSportsTV, the league’s OTT streaming service. This is available on Android and iOS devices, as well as Samsung, LG and Android SmartTVs. LaLigaSportsTV will show all eleven La Liga SmartBank matches per round free of charge for registered users. La Liga SmartBank is Spain’s second division in the football pyramid.
Premier Sports still brands itself as the home of La Liga, airing upwards of three hundred matches per season. Subscriptions start at ￡9.99 per month, and TV coverage is offered via Sky, Virgin TV and Amazon Prime Video Channels. The platform is also host to UEFA Nations League matches, EURO 2024 qualifiers and Scottish Cup football. Audiovisual Director at La Liga, Melcior Soler said:
“Fans in the UK have a strong emotional connection to Spain and Spanish football in particular. This season, through our relationship with Premier Sports, we’re happy to offer more of LaLiga than ever before, including consistent free-to-air coverage, access to world-class LaLigaTV content and full coverage of both divisions, LaLiga Santander and LaLiga SmartBank.”
The new La Liga season kicked off on August 12th, when CA Osasuna beat Sevilla FC 2-1. Pre-match celebrations were held at the division’s London office. Three hand-picked fans were selected to help install their clubs’ crests on the official display wall at the headquarters in King’s Cross London.
Those in search of more free-to-view football can head over to Channel 4. This year, the channel won the rights to air England’s European qualifiers and UEFA Nations League matches, as part of a deal that stretches until 2024. This year, six England matches will be shown live on the channel, including matches against Italy and Germany.
