LaLiga and Premier Sports, the subscription broadcaster that holds the UK rights to the Spanish league, have created free-to-air windows for forthcoming matches.
FreeSports, Premier Sports’ free-to-air channel, is to show regular Friday-evening LaLiga matches during a four-hour ‘Fútbol Fridays’ window that will also include two hours of pre-match coverage from the LaLigaTV channel.
The coverage will begin this Friday from 6pm (BST), including live coverage of Granada’s opening 2020-21 LaLiga match against Athletic Bilbao (from 8pm).
The ‘Fútbol Fridays’ output will be simulcast from the LaLigaTV studios and the preview programming will include input from LaLigaTV pundits Guillem Balagué, Albert Ferrer, Graham Hunter, Pete Jenson and Andrea Orlandi.
In addition, FreeSports will also take advantage of the relaxation of the 3pm blackout legislation in the UK to show two successive matches being played at the Saturday timeslot.
Eibar’s clash against Celta Vigo will be shown this Saturday, before Villarreal’s match-up with Eibar is aired by FreeSports on September 19. Thereafter, the weekly Saturday 3pm matches will continue to be shown in the UK on LaLigaTV.
Premier Sports holds exclusive linear and digital rights in the UK and Ireland to LaLiga from 2019-20 to 2021-22. Premier Sports and LaLiga share LaLigaTV subscription revenues in the UK and Ireland as part of the deal (which also includes a rights fee).
Under a promotion announced last month, LaLigaTV is available free of charge in the UK until October 1 to those Sky platform customers who currently do not subscribe, while non-Sky customers can get free access to the OTT version of the channel.
Prospective customers need to register their details online to access the offer and, unless cancelled, would then be charged the standard £5.99 (€6.67/$7.89) monthly fee at the offer’s expiry. Those viewers who access the offer through the Sky platform can also stream LaLigaTV through Premier Sports’ OTT service, Premier Player.