GolTV, ESPN to Share La Liga Coverage

NEW YORK: GolTV and ESPN have firmed up an agreement for Spanish- and English-language multimedia rights for coverage of Spain’s La Liga in the U.S. through 2012. 

The two U.S. channels will now share coverage of the Spanish football league. In addition to the 120 live games in English and Spanish that will be televised on GolTV, ESPN Deportes will provide exclusive Spanish-language coverage of more than 95 La Liga regular-season matches live. Furthermore, ESPN360.com will stream some 114 matches, including simulcast of all 95 ESPN Deportes matches live in English. ESPN2 will air select matches and ESPN Mobile TV, on FLO TV and MobiTV, will also stream select games live to mobile devices. A highlights show will be broadcast on match days on ESPN Deportes. ESPN Deportes and ESPN360.com will also have rights to Copa del Rey, Spain’s domestic cup tournament.

La Liga’s 20 teams have made it to more top UEFA competitions than any other European league. Real Madrid and Barcelona are the club’s top two teams, winning 31 and 19 titles, respectively.

"There is so much La Liga, and so much demand, we felt that for our fans and video distribution partners, the right answer was not to launch yet another exclusive channel, but to extend our programming rights across multiple networks—and there is no better partner for this endeavor than ESPN," said Rodrigo Lombello, the COO of GolTV. "No other European football league can match La Liga in attracting large audiences on Spanish-language television."

"La Liga is arguably the most prestigious European soccer league in the world," added Lino Garcia, the general manager of ESPN Deportes. "We’re thrilled to work with GolTV to showcase La Liga on ESPN for the first time to soccer fans in the U.S. With the pending addition of Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka, the timing is great to include this great property to the ESPN Deportes lineup, as it is the most exciting soccer league in the world today."

"La Liga features the biggest soccer stars in the world and its non-stop action is unmatched," commented Enzo Francescoli, the founder and CEO of GolTV. "These teams, including Real Madrid and Barcelona, deliver GolTV’s highest-rated games, and now by partnering with ESPN we will now serve all La Liga fans wherever they are, and on whatever channel they prefer to watch the game. Because fans come first, we knew that making more of La Liga available across ESPN’s premiere multimedia platforms makes everyone a winner in this game. We couldn’t be more pleased to have this new relationship with ESPN."

"At a time when Spanish teams are investing in the best soccer talent in the world, we are thrilled that through GolTV and ESPN La Liga will have the exposure and reach of such a large and significant audience," said Roger Huguet, the CEO of Imagina US, which represents La Liga’s broadcasting rights in the U.S.