beIN SPORTS has renewed US media TV rights to LaLiga through 2024, according to several sources who confirmed the details to World Soccer Talk.
It means that the home of LaLiga in the United States will continue to be on beIN SPORTS (in English) and beIN SPORTS en Español (in Spanish) through May 2024 for what is arguably the best soccer league in the world.
beIN SPORTS originally acquired the rights to LaLiga in 2012, and then renewed the rights in 2015 through 2020. With LaLiga in the final year of its current rights deal with beIN SPORTS that was scheduled to conclude in May 2020, it was expected that LaLiga would transition to a different TV distributor because of distribution concerns (beIN SPORTS is no longer available on the two biggest TV providers in the United States, DIRECTV and Xfinity).
When it comes to business, though, global partnerships are key. And considering that beIN SPORTS has the rights to LaLiga in 17 territories around the world, it makes sense for the two partners to continue their relationship for four years until the new agreement ends at the conclusion of the 2023/24 season.
Ultimately, once the new agreement wraps up in 2024, it’ll mean 13 consecutive years of LaLiga programming on beIN SPORTS to viewers in the United States.
World Soccer Talk reached out to LaLiga and beIN SPORTS for a response to the news, but neither organization was willing to comment at this time.
The timing of today’s revelation is fortunate. This week, beIN SPORTS hired Hope Solo as its latest soccer analyst. The former US goalkeeper will be co-hosting a new show on beIN SPORTS titled Weekend Winners alongside beIN SPORTS journalist Jeremy St. Louis. The weekly show will premiere on Monday, August 19 at 7PM ET on beIN SPORTS. In addition to her tenure on Weekend Winners, Hope Solo will help kick-off the network’s coverage of the 2019-2020 LaLiga season with appearances on multiple beIN SPORTS shows, including The Soccer XTRA and The Express this weekend.
SEE MORE: Schedule of LaLiga games on US TV and streaming
The 2019/20 season of LaLiga begins this Friday with Athletic against Barcelona on beIN SPORTS and beIN SPORTS en Español.
What does this mean for LaLiga and beIN SPORTS?
Analysis by Christopher Harris, Soccer media analyst
Prior to revealing the breaking news of LaLiga continuing its relationship with beIN SPORTS for another four years, the safe money bet would have been on LaLiga moving to a different broadcaster in the United States.
But out of all of the territories around the globe, the U.S. is one of the most complex and difficult to break into. With so much traditional American sports programming on television, it’s difficult for soccer leagues to find time slots on big American broadcast channels. On FOX Sports, the Bundesliga has to persevere with big games being featured on FS2 when NASCAR or other sports are contractually shown on FS1. Serie A has one game a week on television (typically on ESPN2 or ESPNEWS) while the remainder of games are on ESPN+. NBC Sports broadcasts more club soccer than most of its competitors but they don’t have many time slots available if they decided to add another league to its portfolio.
That leaves LaLiga with beIN SPORTS, a sports TV network that will guarantee the Spanish league will be the flagship property on both its English-language and Spanish-language channels. On beIN SPORTS, there aren’t college football, NASCAR, golf or college basketball games getting in the way of LaLiga matches.
Plus, remember that beIN SPORTS is a key global partner for LaLiga. beIN SPORTS has had a bad rap in the United States mainly due to distribution issues. But globally, beIN SPORTS is a big player in world sports particularly the Spanish top-flight league. It’s very likely that the U.S. was one important element in a massive media rights deal that would have included many territories globally. And if you’ve been watching beIN SPORTS lately, you will have been reminded several times that beIN SPORTS is now positioning itself as “the biggest sports network in the world.”
Having said that, beIN SPORTS certainly needs to find a way to get back on DIRECTV. AT&T drives a hard bargain, but with the Spanish league committing to beIN SPORTS for the next four years, DIRECTV will have to seriously consider bringing beIN SPORTS back to its programming in order to be competitive with other TV options available to consumers. Comcast Xfinity is another story.
At the end of the day, what will be interesting to watch is whether LaLiga can find a way to sublicense a limited number of games to other broadcasters in the United States this season. beIN SPORTS will be the home of LaLiga, but it could be in the TV network’s best interests to allow LaLiga to broadcast roughly two games per week on ESPN, FOX or another broadcast network. This will increase awareness of beIN SPORTS’ complete coverage of the league. And, at the same time, will help grow the popularity of LaLiga in this country.
For more insight and analysis about the soccer media industry, listen to the World Soccer Talk Podcast every Thursday, which is available via this web site and Spotify, Pandora mobile app, Stitcher, Google Play, iTunes, TuneIn, Overcast, Soundcloud, Spreaker, YouTube and Audioboom.
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Any idea if they will be hiring some more personnel since they have renewed La Liga? Most of their hosts and presenters have departed, the top commentator they had for the Spanish network has left, the studio crew is Thomas Rongen and Hope Solo now, is that what they plan on going with for the next 4 years?
No word on additional new hires, but they did sign up Kaylyn Kyle recently. And she’s been doing a lot of analysis in the studio.
I don’t anticipate beIN SPORTS making any major moves in the hiring department unless they can get DIRECTV to return.
Is DirecTV going to bring back Bein Sports or not?
When dish buys directtv from att, then beIN will be back on.
Are you sure dish will buy DirecTV? If possible to bring Bein Sports
The problem for television networks is that Spanish football has always been and continues to be, incredibly poorly organized. They do not decide kick off days and times until very late in the day, so how are any ‘traditional’ broadcasters supposed to confidently schedule coverage?
There’s even a legal case right now between La Liga and the Spanish FA over whether games can be played on Friday and Monday evenings.
And in the UK, they don’t even have a deal in place for THIS season!
Leagues need a lot of air time to promote soccer leagues properly. A lot of people love ESPN+ but they can’t promise consistent airtime on their main channels to European soccer leagues, and that matters a lot. Bein at least can provide hours and hours of uninterrupted coverage for La Liga. As far as ESPN+ goes, they really should try to get the Premier League back, but I don’t know if they can do it given the football commitments.
While watching probably an unhealthy amount of soccer today it finally dawned on me what we truly need. The streaming genie can’t be put back in the bottle, but is a way to bridge the gap and also make it available via traditional TV.
NBA, NHL, MLB all have their own league pass type services that are available to purchase through cable/satellite and also streaming (MLB.TV).
The various soccer leagues could do something similar, but would probably be expensive if each league was stand alone. We need a European soccer pass service that encompasses all the big leagues along with UCL, EL, and domestic cups. Cheaper options for choosing just one league/cup competition or just one club (and all their matches regardless of competition). But something like $200+ a year for the all encompassing option would be well worth it (I combined B/R, Goldpass, and Plus to estimate a cost).
No more switching streaming service or btw streaming and cable to watch the matches you want, all in one place just different channels etc. Know it’s not practical for the leagues and they make more negotiating separately, but this is what we need (short of all leagues being back on traditional TV or all in the same streaming service).
NBC might renew the premier league after 2022
Do we know if BeIN still has US MNT Away WC Qualifiers?
It’s too early to tell right now. We should know next year around this time.
Exactly. Even for the one Serie A match they show on television it’s used mostly to plug ESPN+ throughout (more matches tomorrow, exclusively on Plus, sign up now etc) rather than promoting the league itself. Then halftime is used to promote ESPNFC, and by extension ESPN+ again.
beIN does an amazing job of promoting La Liga, and all clubs not just the big 3. I’m ecstatic they’re remaining, no way any other network or streaming option would treat them so well. Access to all the matches (at least on beIN En Espanol, SAP for English commentary) and great analysis pre and post.
They even did a great job with Ligue 1 last weekend while it was alone in the limelight. If the network was called NBCSN they’d be getting rave reviews about how great the coverage was, etc.
Meant as a reply to Lovac
beIN doesn’t really do a great job of promoting La Liga due to its terrible commentary, terrible distribution, and terrible streaming platform, though. Some of that is out of their control, but it’s frustrating that they scrape the bottom of the barrel as far as broadcasting talent and their streaming when they spent a ton on the rights. ESPN doesn’t even have major names right now, but just having 2 or 3 good play by play guys gets you to a passable level and beIN has guys that seem to have been scraped off the street doing Barca matches.
I wish BeIn Sports would create an easy accessible streaming service for viewers in the USA like ESPN plus or ESPN3 instead of this war with cable and satellite companies. I watched a lot of La Liga games via the SAP and they have some great commentators on the world feed. Simon Hanley, Duncan Bishop are some that I remember, very professional. BeIn Sports is not available to millions of people, so what is the point if La Liga extended the contract? Make a deal for a just a streaming service, forget TV. It’s better than nothing in my opinion.
Sling World Sports for $10.00 a month. All beIN Channels includeing English, Spanish, La Liga, Connect 4,5,6,7,8, all streaming. La Liga channel has the world English feed.
Yeah but it’s not In 60 FPS . That’s the deal breaker for me
Sling has poor streaming quality. I use it because I have no choice, but if someone else came along with a reasonable price I’d switch. Agreed, beIN should have their own streaming service. I’ve written both beIN sports and beIN Media Group and asked. If we keep pushing for it, they might try their own subscription service for additional revenue.
Streaming quality on Fanatiz is fine.
Fanatiz is $9.99 per month, but readers of World Soccer Talk can get 50% off Fanatiz for the first 3 months of service so you lock in the $4.99/month deal. To get the 50% discount, visit the Fanatiz website (the offer is not available via the app) and then enter coupon code wstfz2 at checkout to get your savings.
Ray and Phil is some of the best in the business.
I actually like most of their commentators. Andres Cordero is top notch. Phil Schoen talks too much for my taste but is knowledgeable and not annoying. Ray isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but have to love his enthusiasm.
The streaming platform has actually improved. If you haven’t tried it out in the past year check it out.
Yes, their streaming platform has improved. It is about the only one I aware of that has a SAP function for the overflow channels. Sometimes you have to toggle the switch for Spanish to get the English commentary though.
“what is arguably the best soccer league in the world”?? It’s so great that generally nobody cares except for the El Clásico or the Madrid Derby games. So great it’s stuck on a channel that two main cable/satellite providers dropped.
Probably a smart decision by La Liga. If they had gone to any other network, it would probably be one televised game per week at most and rest behind the paywall. That’s not a recipe for growth because it will not attract new fans, only those who already want to watch it. ESPN and ESPN+ combo is better than Bein for those of us who already know what La Liga is, but in terms of growth, it’s not better than having every game televised on Bein, regardless of its distribution issues. After one year of Serie A on ESPN/ESPN+, I don’t know if that has done anything for their growth considering how ESPN approached picking the games for tv. So why not take the money from Bein and just continue having all games on tv. I’m surprised they didn’t get telemundo or univision for Spanish language rights, but that would probably make English language rights worthless and would generate less combined if they were split.
La Liga sticking with Bein isn’t a recipe for growth either since it’s a network which frankly only soccer fans tune into – your casual sports viewer probably hasn’t heard of it let alone think about tuning into it like they would with the likes of ESPN & NBCSN.
La Liga making sure Americans continue to be unaware of 17 of 20 clubs in a league where only six matches truly matter. Barca and RM have to begging for the Superleague (and the global television audience for all matches that would come with it) to dissociate from La Liga’s marketing clowns.
It looks like Kay Murray will be doing MLS games on ESPN she made her first appearance last night doing Campeones Cup she was solid. A few assumed she was fleeing a sinking ship.
Well this is a surprise. Really thought beIN would have lost the rights for obvious reasons. I like beIN and enjoy their La Liga coverage (especially w Ray and Phil), but it comes down to money, my money that is. Having to pay for Sling just to watch matches sucks. Was hoping a bigger broadcaster would take it; one that has their channel on Directv and/or Comcast.
It’s not that suprising really. Globally, beIN has ridiculous money and resources. Losing money in the US is probably not as bad when looking at the overall picture. I suggest switching to Fanatiz from Sling where you pay the same amount and get a lot more content.
I wish Fanatiz had GolTV in English also instead of just in spanish
I wish you could watch on demand the Bein Sports content. Other than that, Fanatiz is a really good deal. I have used them before and for return customers they are offering 50% off for three months for returning customers. You get quality content for a good price.
How is their streaming quality? Sling Tv is poor. Watching La Liga games and picture is “soft” not crisp. I hear Fubotv has better streaming quality but I can’t pay $55 for one channel.
By “their” I meant Fanatiz. How is their streaming quality?
It’s good, not 60 FPS but still better than NBCs app in my opinion. Fanatiz offers more soccer content than Sling World Sports. Espn Plus and Fox Sports on Roku for me have the best picture quality.
With so many European leagues going behind a paywall, it’s refreshing to see La Liga remain on Bein. Should save them from turning off the lights and we’ll get to see every match along with some 2nd division matches, so relieved B/R didn’t get this.
Remaining exclusively on BeIN means LaLiga will continue to be behind a paywall.
If beIN SPORTS really is in economic problems hopefully they sublicense some games to ESPN like GOL TV did in 2009. If I remember correctly each network carried a handful of matches per week, the same week one network aired a Barca game the other network aired a Real Madrid game, also both networks aired both Clasicos of the season. Don’t see it happening with ESPN and beIN SPORTS although it will be really cool if it happened.
LaLiga has chosen to commit Viewership Seppuku. Viewers will be flocking to EPL, EFL, Bundesliga and Serie A at NBC and ESPN+ instead. Way to miss the boat, you Spaniard idiots!
Enjoy all that Qatari Money too.
only those people who want to watch these leagues will be flocking to ESPN+. I don’t think La Liga would generate a lot of new fans by going to ESPN+. It would just ensure that only those people who really want to watch La Liga would watch it.
Great news!! Admittedly I’m a fan of beIN, so happy this keeps them viable longer. The consensus was La Liga would leave and beIN would go dark.
La Liga might’ve weighted the alternatives and realized even with their distribution issues. beIN gets them the most matches in TV (not streaming), and is the channels #1 priority. Hopefully the distrubutors like Xfinity and Direct TV eventually come around, beIN has more value than arguably other sports networks that enjoy greater carriage.
Maybe now they feel emboldened to make a play for Bundesliga?
Sorry but ESPN has the rights to the Bundesliga from 2020-2021 season.
No Greg C, an honest opinion. Maybe you are the clueless one. Most of the world’s fans seem to agree with me. If you have some constructive comment or points to be made then lets here them or remain mute.
It has shown nothing in a decade? Off the top of my head Spain won the World Cup and Euros, Barca won 2 x Champs Lge, Real won it 4 times, Sevilla won the Europa 3 times and same for Atleti. Now I’m a Prem Lge fan boy, but thats a decade of dominance
Well, that stinks if one favors TUDN and ESPN+ like I did in obtaining La Liga rights.
At least beIN still has the Libertadores as supplemental night programming, as well as Ray Hudson and Phil Schoen. This should be an opportunity for beIN to promote cord cutting in the wake of their disputes with
DirecTVAT&T and Comcast. So in the long run, FuboTV is the winner in this one because of beIN connect being readily available as soon as one signs up.LaLiga is not the best league in the world. That’s just placing your love of the league ahead of more objective criteria and quiet predictable I might add. As a national side Spain and it’s national team has not shown much on the world stage in the past decade. Apart from having Messi & Ronaldo when they did, by far,on balance below those superstars the better world players are in the premier league. Yes, LaLiga may be better technically but more often then not, If Barca and RM are not playing, the pace of the game is slowed often resulting in far to many sideways and backwards passing. I beleive we saw that in the summer of 2018. The pace, physicality, athleticism and overall intensity over the 90 minutes is better in the Premier League. It oftentimes results in frenetic play and mistakes but that’s what makes the league exciting. You may not agree. What is undeniable though is the voice of the fans through the world. They want to see the PL, not LaLiga.
Frank Connolly, that is either a truly clueless post or a windup. Has to be the latter?
There goes La Liga’s hopes of expanding their popularity/awareness in the US for another few years…
La Liga has ridden on the backs of two of Football’s best players ever in Messi and Ronaldo. With Messi getting older and no Ronaldo, La Liga has a boat load of issues competition wise with the UK and Germany.
5 more years of that daft Geordie. Great.
LMAO at Chris thinking At&t is worried about getting La Liga market share to remain competitive, they have 2 games a year that the majority of fans in this country fans care about. Don’t get me wrong I love La Liga and watch it every week but lets be honest the majority of people aren’t tuning in to Getafe Leganes, Granada Sevilla every week and it is not relevant, outside of 4 hours of programming featuring two teams the rest of the channels content is garbage.
This does hurt Comcast’s reasoning for refusing to carry beIN though. Said they couldn’t be sure of their programming in the future years of the potential distribution deal (case with any sports network anyway). With La Liga for another 4 years after this season that argument becomes invalid. Good timing in beIN refiling the case with the FCC.
Magisterial!!!!!!!!!!!! Ahhhh MAGIC!