Sports broadcaster Setanta has agreed a five-season deal with LaLiga for exclusive rights in the Baltic region to Spanish football’s top two tiers, from 2021-22 to 2025-26.
The deal includes exclusive rights in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to all matches from the top tier and second tier as well as all play-off matches for promotion to the top division.
Setanta is the incumbent rights-holder in the three countries. Its three-season deal, from 2018-19 to 2020-21, was agreed with the Advisers Media International agency. AMI acquired rights directly from LaLiga over the same period.
Melcior Soler, director of LaLiga’s audiovisual department, said: “We’re pleased to extend our relationship with Setanta Sports and to make another long-term agreement that provides continuity for our global audience. The Baltic region is important for our future growth and fans in these countries now know where to find the best sports entertainment for the coming years.”
LaLiga, working with the Mediapro agency, launched an invitation to tender for its media rights in the Baltics earlier this year, setting a July 9 deadline.
The governing body was given authorisation to sell future broadcast rights in Europe for more than three seasons in amends made to the Royal Decree that governs the sale of centralised rights.
Setanta also currently holds LaLiga rights in 10 Asian markets (Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) in a five-season deal, from 2018-19 to 2022-23. It also acquired these rights from AMI.