Blog: La Liga

Read our latest daily deep dives, hot takes, and exciting updates about the entertainment world. Check out the latest insight from your favourite analyst, or search by coverage areas - music, entertainment and fandom, creator economy and social.

Football looks to build digital engagement through Fortnite collaboration

Cover image for Football looks to build digital engagement through Fortnite collaboration

Alistair Taylor

22 Jan 2021

Endeavor-owned IMG, acting as Epic Games’ licensing representative, has brokered deals with 23 football clubs to appear in the publisher’s free-to-play battle royale-style game Fortnite. Looking to capitalise on an increasingly valuable market, with diversifying revenue streams a paramount objective, sport is starting to play its way into the world of micropayments and in-app purchases, turning fandom into revenue .

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Can LiveScore learn valuable lessons from Eleven Sports’ UK failings?

Cover image for Can LiveScore learn valuable lessons from Eleven Sports’ UK failings?

Alistair Taylor

24 Aug 2020

streaming service

Streaming insurgent LiveScore launched its first ever over-the-top (OTT), ad-supported direct-to-consumer (D2C) streaming proposition in the UK back in June, harbouring a similar rights portfolio to that of Eleven Sports’ failed proposition back in 2018 .

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TwitchSports: Amazon throws sports into the starting line-up

Cover image for TwitchSports: Amazon throws sports into the starting line-up

Alistair Taylor

29 Jul 2020

Amazon-owned Twitch is no newcomer to sports. However, in a deliberate move to double down, Amazon has conceded that it needs to improve the discoverability of live sporting events for its platform users – so, as of last Wednesday, ‘Sports’ has become a standalone category with the return of Twitch.

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DAZN’s belated UK launch: Can it avoid Eleven Sports’ 'mistake’?

Cover image for DAZN’s belated UK launch: Can it avoid Eleven Sports’ 'mistake’?

Alistair Taylor

24 Jul 2020

Media & Marketing

DAZN, the anointed ‘Netflix of Sport’, has announced plans to resume launching its services globally via a beta service covering boxing bouts In July and August, for users who have registered their interest, free of charge, ahead of DAZN’s revamped imminent global rollout.

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Bain Capital Fashions Itself Goal-Scoring Opportunity with Tabled Serie A Offer

Cover image for Bain Capital Fashions Itself Goal-Scoring Opportunity with Tabled Serie A Offer

Alistair Taylor

16 Jun 2020

Italian football league Serie A is attracting suitors for an equity share, following a €3 billion ($3.4 billion) ‘tentative offer’ made by Bain Capital for 25% of the league. This opened up competition with equity rival CVC Capital Partners, which offered €2.

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Move Over Mickey, The NBA is Set to Become Disney World’s Star Attraction

Cover image for Move Over Mickey, The NBA is Set to Become Disney World’s Star Attraction

Alistair Taylor

27 May 2020

Australian Rules Football

COVID-19 forced sports leagues to think outside the box for restarting live sports. The UFC wanted to rent a private island , the NRL to ferry players to and from games, and the WWE performed to empty arenas .

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Play for the World – EA Aims to Fill Void via FIFA Stay and Play Cup

Alistair Taylor

16 Apr 2020

In 2003, FIFA updated its primary logo to include the words ‘For the Game. For the World.’ Fast forward 17 years and governments around the world are instructing their citizens to stay inside. Now it is almost as if Nike consulted FIFA on its latest marketing campaign ‘Play Inside, Play for the World’, imploring enamored fans to play for the 7.

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Could a Recession Change the Tide for Sports Rights Allocation?

Cover image for Could a Recession Change the Tide for Sports Rights Allocation?

Alistair Taylor

24 Sep 2019

additive services

all-encompassing offering

Revenue remains rights holder’s priority qualifier for allocating rights. However, with an impending recession, we are likely nearing an inflection point whereby rights holders may start to look towards prioritising reach over revenue.

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Not So Galactico; What Went Wrong for La Liga?

Cover image for Not So Galactico; What Went Wrong for La Liga?

Alistair Taylor

7 Aug 2019

addressable audience

broadcast deals

carriage partnerships

Joris Evers, La Liga’s head of communications, confirmed last week that the rights holder has withdrawn its tender for broadcast rights to Spanish soccer’s premier league in the UK and Ireland after failing to receive any acceptable bids, due by the 25 th July .

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Heavyweight Battle for Premium Sporting Rights Dependent on Three Factors

Cover image for Heavyweight Battle for Premium Sporting Rights Dependent on Three Factors

Alistair Taylor

3 Jun 2019

broadcast rights

The sports rights landscape has changed fundamentally with the emergence of streaming subscription video on demand (SVOD) services. Digital and broadcast rights used to be separate deals entirely, but now the lines are blurred, and competition is heating up for exclusive coverage of the most sought-after sporting rights.

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Mediapro Offers Eleven Sports a UK Lifeline!

Alistair Taylor

21 Mar 2019

ad-supported model

carriage partnerships

Streaming service Eleven Sports will now have to table a new offer to maintain its UK La Liga rights, as Mediapro (the agency selling La Liga’s international rights) decides to return La Liga to the UK media rights tender market ahead of the 2019/2022 season.

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Fail Fast, Fail Early – Can Eleven’s UK Struggle Aid Future Growth?

Alistair Taylor

21 Feb 2019

Amazon Fire Stick

Eleven Sports announced last week it had successfully agreed long-term distribution agreements with all four TV operators in Portugal – Altice, NOS, Nowo and Vodafone. Achieving this agreement puts Eleven Sports on TV platforms across 3.

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Will An EPL Streaming Service Devalue Domestic Rights?

Alistair Taylor

15 Feb 2019

addressable audience

Following the English Premier League (EPL) announcing in November its plans to launch its own streaming service for the next rights cycle (2022-2025), the Sunday Times reported that the EPL is coming close to launching.

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Eleven Sports Loses Serie A Rights As Partnership With IMG Ends

Alistair Taylor

1 Feb 2019

audience acquisition

Eleven Sports, the fledgling sports-centric streaming service has lost the UK and Irish rights for Serie A and Eredivisie, following a strategic decision to ‘amicably’ end its partnership with international rights agency, IMG .

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Knockout Blow For Eleven Sports?

Alistair Taylor

13 Dec 2018

additive service

Audience behaviour

Eleven Sports, the insurgent subscription video on demand (SVOD) service, is considering closing its operations in the UK and Ireland after failing to secure distribution via traditional TV operators. Failure to attract enough subscribers onto its platform since its launch has only increased doubts over the financial viability of the service.

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Facebook Becomes A Player In Indian Sports Rights

Tim Mulligan

17 Aug 2018

Despite the shock to Facebook’s growth narrative in the first half of 2018, the social media giant is not standing still in rolling out its global content strategy. First came the Cambridge Analytica data leaking scandal in April and then the unprecedented 20% plunge ($120 billion – equivalent to the loss of nearly four Spotifys) in its market cap in July, instigated by a decline in daily active users (DAUs) in Q2 2018.

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Eleven’s Challenge With Commercialising Newly Acquired Sports Rights

Tim Mulligan

7 Aug 2018

English Premier League

Sports entertainment disruptor Eleven Sports has been making headway over the previous 12 months with a series of notable acquisitions of premium sports rights in non-premium markets. Eleven’s business model involves building a next-generation direct-to-consumer proposition through a contract-free on-demand sports streaming service.

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Can Eleven Sports Disrupt the UK Sports Video Landscape?

Alistair Taylor

19 Jul 2018

Eleven Sports is a global sports content provider intent on global expansion. Already established in Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Singapore, Taiwan and the US. Eleven is systematically acquiring new rights to increase its value proposition before launching local channels into new target markets.

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