ESPN+ acquires US rights to Copa del Rey

ESPN+ has acquired the US rights to the Copa del Rey tournament, the annual knockout competition run by the Spanish football federation.

With plans to stream up to 65 games a year including the final, the multi-year agreement will kick off this Saturday with ESPN+ streaming the Second Round of the prestigious tournament.

According to a World Soccer Talk source, beIN SPORTS — the previous rightsholder to the competition in the US — decided not to renew the rights, thus giving ESPN the opportunity to amass more rights for its streaming service.

Currently, ESPN+ streams the Serie A, UEFA Nations League, Championship, League One, League Two, FA Cup, League Cup, US Open Cup, International Champions Cup, Coppa Italia, Supercoppa Italiana, Eredivisie, Danish Superliga, Chinese Super League, Indian Super League, Australian A-League, Sweden’s Allsvenskan, MLS out-of-market games and USL. And that’s just their soccer rights. It also includes the daily ESPN FC show as well as hundreds of hours of original programming and matches from UFC, MLB, MLS, NHL, select PGA TOUR golf, Top Rank Boxing, cricket and Grand Slam tennis from Wimbledon to the US Open, Australian Open and other sports.

The majority of La Liga teams will participate in the Second Round, starting on January 11, which will be joined by the four teams that compete for the Spanish Super Cup (Valencia CF, FC Barcelona, Real Madrid CF, Atlético de Madrid) in the Round of 32, which starts on January 22.

The final of the Copa del Rey will take place on April 18, and the winner will qualify for the UEFA Europa League and for the Spanish Super Cup. Last season, Valencia won its eighth title with a dramatic victory against former champions FC Barcelona.

ESPN+ is $5.99 per month, and is available in the United States.