Spanish telco Telefónica will this week assume full control of Italian Serie A and French Ligue 1 rights in the country.
The rights had been held by the joint venture between agency Mediapro and pay-television broadcaster beIN Sports, but have not been fully exploited since the two parties scaled back their channel operations in the country.
Mediapro/beIN had been broadcasting about three games per match-week on their Gol and BeIN Connect platforms; Telefónica had already picked up rights to several unbroadcast Serie A matches.
Coverage will begin on Telefónica’s Movistar Plus platform on Friday and run at least until the end of the season.
The deals further strengthen Movistar Plus’ football rights portfolio, which includes LaLiga, Segunda División and Copa del Rey, as well as the Uefa Champions League, Europa League, German Bundesliga and English Premier League.