Univision-owned Spanish-language broadcaster TUDN has acquired the exclusive rights in the US market to the newly-formed Mexican second division, the Liga de Expansión MX.
SportBusiness understands that deal is for the six seasons and will run from the 2020 season to the end of the 2025-26 campaign. The deal covers broadcast and radio rights to the league.
It is understood that there was no invitation to tender for the rights and that negotiations took place privately.
The broadcaster began its coverage of the 2020 season from the second matchday, which began on Tuesday.
The Liga de Expansión was founded this year and features 16 teams from across Mexico. It replaced the previous second division league competition, the Liga Ascenso MX, as part of a reshuffle in the Mexican football format.
This season, the league’s first, has been truncated due to the Covid-19 pandemic and will last for 15 weeks between August and November.
TUDN has been investing in the rights to Mexican domestic football, having already acquired the US rights to the Copa por Mexico as well as the top tier Liga MX division.
Univision also holds the Spanish-language Uefa Champions League rights in the US market and attracted an average of 2.05 million viewers (on Univision and TUDN) for Sunday’s final between Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain, a 41-per-cent jump on the channels’ coverage of the 2019 final.