LaLiga, the organising body of Spanish club football, and broadcast partner the Mediapro agency have outlined plans for new broadcast innovations for the 2016-17 season, including 4K coverage of games.
LaLiga and Mediapro said one match per week from the top-tier Liga will be broadcast in the 4K resolution format.
In addition, from 2016-17 seven grounds will feature overhead cameras with the plan to extend this to all stadia in coming seasons. The Santiago Bernabeu and Camp Nou, homes of Real Madrid and Barcelona, respectively, will also be fitted with technology to enable 360-degree replays of game action.
LaLiga president Javier Tebas said: “We set out to be the best league in the world not only on the pitch but also the best in terms of the TV viewing experience.”
Mediapro last month acquired the remaining two packages of LaLiga domestic rights for the three seasons from 2016-17 to 2018-19. LaLiga said Mediapro submitted the best bid of €17m ($18.7m) for package 2, which includes free-to-air rights to the second-pick live Copa del Rey match and first-pick semi-final, but doesn't include the final of the knockout competition.
LaLiga added that Mediapro submitted the only bid for package 5 – digital on-demand rights to all matches – and will pay €3m for this package. Earlier in the month, Mediapro acquired three packages of LaLiga rights for a total fee of €55.8m.
The rights, covering the top-tier Liga, second-tier Segunda División and Copa del Rey, will be exploited on Gol, a new free-to-air sports channel that was launched by Mediapro in June.