Spanish commercial broadcasters La Sexta and Antena 3 are the favourites to acquire the rights for the Spanish basketball league, the ACB, after the incumbent rights-holder, public-service broadcaster TVE, said it would not renew its deal, according to Spanish newspaper Marca.
TVE’s four-year deal, from 2008-09 to 2011-12, expires at the end of the current season in June.
“We cannot renew it,” TVE acting president Josep Manel Silva said. “I have spoken to [ACB director general] Beto Agustí. We have no money.”
The league has not given up hope of TVE bidding for the rights and is waiting to discover whether the Spanish government will reverse some of this year’s budget cuts for the broadcaster.
Antena 3 and La Sexta agreed to merge in January. By purchasing the rights the broadcasters would be able to share coverage of the league.
Meanwhile, Antena 3 was ordered to pay La Liga football club Sevilla €7.5 million ($10 million) plus costs after a ruling in the Madrid Court of First Instance over a long-running rights dispute.
The court ruled that Antena 3 had failed to fulfil a contract signed in 1995 to broadcast matches involving the team in European club competitions. The deal was due to cover the next five European competitions in which Sevilla participated, with no time limit. However, Antena 3 did not show Sevilla games in the Uefa Cup in the 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2008-09 campaigns.