José M. Rodríguez Silva

Updated Friday, January 19, 2024-14:42

  • TV Movistar remodels its television and launches a new rate with two weekly soccer games from 11 euros

Telefónica

has been awarded again and for the same price the

rights to broadcast five matches

of each day of LaLiga EA Sports

from January 2025 until the end of the 2026/2027 season

that the competition had to put up for auction again at the request of the National Commission of Competition Markets.

In this way,

a conflict with the regulator that has lasted for two years

is put to an end without alterations .

It all starts from the fact that one of the conditions that

Telefónica

accepted to buy

Canal+

included a limitation by which the operator could only sign contracts for the acquisition of sports rights for three years.

The operator's thesis is that as these obligations expired during the first three years of the five-year contract that he signed with

LaLiga

, this restriction did not apply and he could opt for the entire auction, thus designed by

the institution chaired by Javier Tebas to ensure the long-term income

for the competition and that also caused rejection among the regulator.

The arguments of the operator chaired by

José María Álvarez Pallete

did not convince the CNMC

, which led LaLiga to a new auction for the remaining three years of the Telefónica package that has resulted in an award for the same price.

Thus, Telefónica disburses a total of

1,290 million euros

for this new package, of which 250 million euros correspond to half of the 2024/2025 season and another 520 million for each of the 2025/2026 and 2026/2027 seasons. .

In parallel, it has also been awarded the exclusive broadcasting rights for one matchday in 2024 and 2025 and another three exclusively in which there are matches of the leading teams.

"With this, Telefónica consolidates its football offer, so Movistar Plus+ customers will continue to enjoy 100% of League matches as well as UEFA Competitions until 2027," the company states in a document sent to the

National Football Commission. Stock Market (CNMV).

LIBERALIZATION

Telefónica's television business

became liberalized in April 2023

, when the commitments for the purchase of Canal+ expired, which has provided greater flexibility to the group when managing its pay television offer.

In this context, the most significant movement is the launch of

Movistar Plus+

, an OTT also open to non-customers that includes at least two weekly Spanish football matches and several sporting events, in addition to the platform's series and cinema offering.

However, the company continues to ask for greater deregulation and a greater regulatory balance between the traditional pay television business dependent on operators and streaming platforms

,

which, for example, are not counted when estimating who the actor is. dominant in the pay TV market.