Spain

LaLiga president Javier Tebas has said the organisation which oversees the top two divisions of Spanish club football needs to step up its engagement with OTT and other digital media platforms, adding it has received interest from the likes of streaming service Netflix and Japanese e-commerce firm Rakuten.

Spanish LaLiga football club Real Madrid has struck a strategic partnership with Chinese social media platform Sina Weibo.

Liga ACB, the top division of basketball in Spain, has secured coverage in the Nordic market for the first time under a deal with OTT video content platform OZ.

US telecommunications company Verizon has entered into a content partnership with Spanish LaLiga football club Barcelona.

LaLiga president Javier Tebas has said the organisation which oversees the top two divisions of Spanish club football has delayed talks over its next set of international broadcast rights amid the uncertainty caused by Catalonia’s proposed split from Spain.

Chinese private equity firm Orient Hontai has struck a deal to acquire a majority stake in Imagina, the parent company of Spanish agency Mediapro.

Movistar Plus, the pay-television platform of Spanish telecommunications group Telefónica, has agreed a multi-season extension to its rights deal for North American basketball league the NBA.

Spanish public-service broadcaster TVE’s aggressive move to acquire all Spanish national team matches at the end of last month is evidence the country’s advertising market recovering from its 2013 low.

The NBA’s blockbuster deal with e-commerce firm Rakuten in Japan will soon be followed by new deals in Spain with Telefónica and Poland with NC Plus, TV Sports Markets understands.

Clubs in LaLiga, the top division of Spanish football, benefitted from a €388.7m ($463.2m) rise in revenue distributed from broadcast rights sales during the 2016-17 season, demonstrating the benefits of the switch to a centralised selling model.

Spanish public-service broadcaster TVE has retained its rights to the national football team’s qualifying games for major tournaments under a new deal with European governing body Uefa.

The ProLiga association, which represents football clubs in Spain’s third-tier Segunda División B and fourth-tier Tercera División competitions, has agreed a deal with Mallorca-based production company Fibwi to launch a new television channel.

Spanish cable television operator Telecable has said it will close its OTT platform Tedi.tv after failing to secure football rights for the 2017-18 season.

European pay-television group Sky has reported a six per cent fall in operating profit due to the increased costs of rights to football’s English Premier League, while it has outlined plans to launch a “simple and affordable” OTT platform in Spain.

A joint venture between the Mediapro agency and pay-television broadcaster beIN Sports has been confirmed as the exclusive rights-holder in Spain for the Uefa Champions League and Europa League club football competitions.

Spanish agency Mediapro has hailed its latest court victory against media company Prisa in the so-called ‘football war’ over rights to LaLiga, the top division of the domestic game.