La Liga President Javier Tebas has announced an agreement with the China Media Group which will see the Spanish league broadcast for free in China. Tebas explained that his intention was to increase the presence of La Liga in the country and grow the value of the TV rights.
It is not yet clear how long the agreement will be, or whether La Liga will be receiving a fee for the rights.
“We have signed a strategic agreement for the free-to-air broadcast of LALIGA in China through ‘China Media Group’ with Shen Haixiong, Vice Minister of Propaganda of China and President and Editor-in-Chief of CMG.”
“A very important milestone to expand our presence in China and bring our football to more than a billion people.”
Hemos firmado un acuerdo estratégico para la retransmisión de LALIGA en China en abierto a través de ‘China Media Group’ con Shen Haixiong, viceministro de Propaganda de China y presidente y editor jefe de CMG.
Un hito importantísimo para ampliar nuestra presencia en China y… pic.twitter.com/IBwi4kIEjG
— Javier Tebas Medrano (@Tebasjavier) September 11, 2024
Tebas, who was speaking from Beijing, reasoned that the value of the TV rights had fallen in recent years, and La Liga were moving to get that back, and thus were trying to grow the interest.
“It is publicly known that in China all non-national sports competitions have suffered a price drop. We want to try to recover that value and, to do so, we must have much more presence,” Marca report.
“I would highlight the presence for 10 years in a country like China, with a culture absolutely different from what our culture can be in the West, even in the field of sports,”
The La Liga President continued his crusade against pirate streams of Spanish football too, something he has called on to be criminalised.
“In China, less permissive regulations regarding audiovisual piracy could be attempted. It is a global problem, and each country has its characteristics in terms of how it is pirated.”
Barcelona are looking for a right-back. Óscar Mingueza and Joshua Kimmich, the latter for his versatility, are options. @gbsans
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) September 11, 2024
This is a remarkable move for La Liga, and as Tebas points out, over a billion people could now have access to watching the competition. It is hard not to see the positives in the deal for the consumer.
Even so, the double standards in Tebas’ discourse cannot be avoided. He sneered at the idea of the Superleague broadcasting football for free when it was suggested, and in addition, were La Liga on free-to-air television, there would be no need for consumers to seek cheaper alternatives. Most TV packages in Spain including all of the European and Spanish games will cost consumers towards €1,500 per year.
