LaLiga: Spanish league invites tenders for broadcasting rights in Indian sub-continent

Spanish football league LaLiga have invited tenders for broadcasting rights in the Indian sub-continent for the 2021-22 season onwards.

"Bidders are invited to submit offers for the 2021-22 season onwards, covering a minimum of three and a maximum of five seasons.

"The tender includes the rights to broadcast the competition in eight countries: Afghanistan (non-exclusive basis), Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan," the league said in a statement.

LaLiga currently stream their matches in the sub-continent on social media giants Facebook. The deal, in effect since the 2018-19 season, will complete its course at the end of the ongoing LaLiga calendar (2020-21).

In a recent interview to Firstpost, LaLiga's India Managing Director, Jose Antonio Cachaza, while being largely non-committal, had hinted at the possibility of the league looking beyond Facebook as a broadcast option.

Image used for representational purpose only.

"Well, we (LaLiga and Facebook) have to start talking. We are talking to the market and you’ll get news fairly soon. I am not in a position to comment right away, but the Indian broadcast market is set for a drastic change with all these OTT players coming in.

"Most broadcasters, such as Sony and Star, have their digital streaming platforms, and new players are entering the market regularly. So, broadcasting is entering a new digitally-integrated world, and we are aware of that. The success of IPL on Hotstar is a great indicator of how the Indian market is evolving," he had said.

As per LaLiga's statement, the tender provides different packages to help partners achieve the broadest distribution. These include rights to show all matches from LaLiga Santander, LaLiga SmartBank, LaLiga’s 24X7 English-language channel LaLigaTV, and additional support programming, on an exclusive or non-exclusive basis.

“We are very satisfied with our current partner which has provided data to demonstrate our consistent growth in the Indian Subcontinent and our engagement with football fans,” said Melcior Soler, Audiovisual Director of LaLiga. “We see a huge opportunity going forward to deepen these connections and expand the profile of the competition.”

Bids forms and the required documentation need to be submitted latest by 8 February 2021.