LeTV Sports, a new sports-rights venture operated by Chinese IPTV operator LeTV, has acquired rights for North America’s Major League Soccer.
LeTV will show live coverage of all league matches in mainland China.
The length of the “long-term” agreement was not disclosed.
LeTV will show at least two MLS regular-season matches per week, as well as the MLS All-Star Game, all MLS Cup Playoff games and the MLS Cup knockout tournament.
The platform will also provide highlights, player features and other support programming.
The deal was brokered on behalf of MLS by the league’s new global rights distribution agency, IMG.
Earlier this week it was confirmed that $129m (€116m) had been raised for LeTV Sports through a funding round, with media moguls Jack Ma and Wang Jianlin being the lead investors. Ma is the founder and chairman of Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba while Jianlin is the founder of the Wanda property and entertainment conglomerate.