Sky lose Spanish TV rights to owner of Leeds
SKY SporTS have lost the rights to Spanish football, their most valuable foreign football property, after two decades of coverage.
Little-known Tv sports provider eleven Sports, owned by Leeds United owner and chairman Andrea radrizzani, have signed a three-year deal to show La Liga in the UK from the start of next season.
Sportsmail forecast that Sky would not hold on to the rights when talks broke down last month and pundits on their Spanish football programmes started to seek other work opportunities.
Sky offered less than the £18million a year they paid three years ago when rivals BT Sport were challenging for the rights.
But Sky are no longer prepared to pay inflated prices for content even if the loss of Lionel Messi (right) and Cristiano ronaldo will leave significant gaps in their schedules.
eleven Sports are also said to be looking at the two packages of premier League games which were unsold when bids failed to reach the reserve price in February. They already hold some oversees rights to the english top flight but if their interest is genuine it has yet to reach the premier League, who expect the sale of those two sets of 20 matches to drag on into the summer.
eleven have yet to announce how they will broadcast the games. it may be through a traditional Tv platform or streaming matches on social media. either way it represents a considerable risk by La Liga, who have had 20 years of stability on Sky.
eleven Sports chairman Marc Watson, who helped launch BT Sport, said: ‘We are proud to build on our existing relationship with La Liga, this time in the UK, one of the most passionate football countries in the world where Spanish football has significant appeal. We will announce soon how we will introduce innovative ways for dedicated fans to watch and engage in the live action.’
Javier Tebas, La Liga’s president, added: ‘We have worked very hard to promote the excellence of La Liga in the UK and we are confident eleven Sports will help us to grow and innovate our brand.’