Orange and Vodafone have claimed that rival telecommunications company Telefónica should share carriage of the new beIN Sports LaLiga pay-television channel in Spain.
On Tuesday, Telefónica's DTS unit agreed to pay Mediapro €2.4bn ($2.6bn) to carry beIN Sports LaLiga on an exclusive basis for three seasons, from 2016-17 to 2018-19.
Orange said that Telefónica “has an obligation to distribute the rights” while Vodafone said that the channel will have to be included in Telefónica’s wholesale package.
Orange and Vodafone cited a condition imposed by the CNMC, the country’s competition regulator, when the acquisition of pay-television broadcaster Canal Plus by Telefónica was authorised. The condition said that Telefónica must share 50 per cent of its premium content, such as movies and sports coverage, with its rivals.
Coverage on the channel will include the top-tier Primera División, second-tier Segunda División and the Copa del Rey knockout competition for all three seasons, plus matches from the Uefa Champions League and Europa League European club competitions until at least the end of the 2017-18 campaign.
Mediapro said that the offer from Telefónica “clearly exceeded” bids from the other operators.