International sports broadcaster Eleven Sports has today (Tuesday) confirmed Portugal as its 10th market with the acquisition of rights to club football competitions the Uefa Champions League and Spain’s LaLiga.
The exclusive agreements start from the beginning of the 2018-19 season and will run for three years until the end of the 2020-21 campaign.
The Champions League deal includes 138 matches per season, from the final qualifying round and group stages to the final. It also includes the Super Cup – the annual tie between the winners of the Champions League and the Europa League.
The agreement with LaLiga includes every match from Spain’s top flight.
News of Eleven’s impending entry into Portugal was first reported by TV Sports Markets earlier this month.
Portugal will become Eleven Sports’ 10th market and follows the recent acquisition of LaLiga rights in the UK and Ireland. Eleven has built a partnership with the Spanish league in Poland, Belgium and Luxembourg, where it has held the rights since 2015.
Eleven said it will announce details in the coming weeks about the “innovative ways” in which it will package and distribute the rights for fans in Portugal.
“We are very proud to secure Uefa Champions League and LaLiga rights in Portugal, two of the world’s biggest football competitions in a nation that has a huge passion for the game,” Danny Menken, group managing director of Eleven Sports, said.
“Today’s news, which signals our entry into another major European market and our 10th market globally, helps drive our momentum of serving dedicated sports fans everywhere.”
Eleven currently operates in Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Singapore, Taiwan and the US.