Broadcast Rights

Competitions available on LaLigaTV

Spain - La Liga

2022-2025

Premier Sports continues to have LaLiga media rights in the UK and Ireland until 2025. In 2022, ViaPlay purchased a package of UK media rights (including LaLiga) from Premier Sports in a deal reportedly worth approximately $37.3 million (about £30 million). ViaPlay then sold those rights back to Premier Sports in 2024.

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As such, Premier Sports, which first acquired LaLiga broadcast rights in the UK and Ireland at the start of the 2019-20 campaign, continues to show matches on both a subscription and a free-to-air basis on its linear channels.

As per its agreement with LaLiga, Premier Sports shows select matches and weekly highlights on a free-to-air basis on its channel, Freesports. Subscribers can watch additional matches on Premier Sports pay-TV channels, Premier Sports 1 and Premier Sports 2.

LaLiga fans in the UK and Ireland can stream select matches and bonus LaLiga content, including game highlights, live and on-demand via the network’s streaming service, Premier Sports Player. Premier Sports Player is compatible across a range of devices, including mobiles and tablets (Android and iOS), smart TVs (LG, Fire TV, Android TV), and streaming devices (Chromecast, AirPlay).

About

LaLigaTV history, coverage, features

LaLigaTV is an English-language channel that airs all matches from the Spanish La Liga in the UK and Ireland. It also shows weekly programming to supplement live game coverage. Some of the popular programs the 24/7 channel has aired in the past include LaLiga World, The LaLiga Show and VIVA LaLiga.

It first launched on Premier Sports’ over-the-top (OTT) service Premier Player in October 2019, before becoming available on the Sky TV platform through the Premier Sports bundle in January 2020. LaLigaTV’s full live coverage of the Spanish La Liga’s 380 matches in the UK and Ireland came as a result of a three-year partnership between the league and Premier Sports, which runs through 2022. The agreement also marked the first time a football league launched a full-time, dedicated channel to show all matches in UK and Ireland via all major TV platforms.

Before the first announcement by the British pay-TV broadcaster at the beginning of the 2019/20 La Liga season, UK fans had growing concerns over the accessibility of Spanish football action. After Sky Sports lost their rights for La Liga in 2018 to Eleven Sports, it was believed that the latter would remain the exclusive broadcaster of the league for at least three years. Nonetheless, their trouble in boosting subscriber counts prompted La Liga to look for another broadcast partner. ITV proceeded to jump on the scene to temporarily telecast some live matches, but the deal with Premier Sports set the stage for something new for the Spanish top-tier division, with the introduction of LaLigaTV.

Available on Virgin TV as well, LaLigaTV’s content is produced by Mediapro directly from Spain and then distributed to broadcast partners. Viewers in the UK and Ireland receive over 20 hours of live La Liga-related programming every weekend in full HD. The channel also provides daily studio shows, documentaries and newscasts for all 20 clubs taking part in the league.

Talking Football – a monthly show involving thorough interviews with active and retired Spanish footballers – was among the programs with which the channel kicked off. Notable sportscasters who have contributed to the channel since its existence include Albert Ferrer, Andrea Orlandi, Gaizka Mendieta, Graham Hunter, Guillem Balague, Gus Poyet, Nayim, Sid Lowe and Terry Gibson, among others.

Viewing experience of live La Liga matches brought by LaLigaTV in the UK and Ireland is optimized with a minimum of 15 television cameras at every team’s stadium, including SkyCam and 360 Replays. Matches falling within the UK’s 3pm Saturday blackout window may be aired as delayed broadcasts, however.