https://worldsoccertalk.com/2021/05/13/d...cast-deal/
Refer back to the thread I made on Serie A and Paramount+
I said that La Liga was looking at that news and was in position to cash in bigly. Now that has happened!
Quote:The Walt Disney Company today confirmed that ESPN has acquired the U.S. rights to Spain’s LaLiga through 2028-29 in a comprehensive long-term media deal that positions ESPN+ as the number one dedicated sports streaming service.
Select matches will air across ESPN networks each season, with coverage and highlights also available on SportsCenter and other ESPN studio programs, as well as on ESPN digital and social platforms.
“We’ve signed a historic rights agreement with the top division in Spanish club football,” said The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Chapek. “It is one of the world’s best and most popular soccer leagues, including a number of the top clubs in the world and one of the best players in the world. And this eight-year deal covering both English and Spanish language rights brings 380 matches and a host of [Segunda Division] matches beginning in August. This deal bolsters ESPN plus’s position as a top destination for soccer in the US, offering fans more than 2,900 matches per season.”
* major streaming deal, not major broadcast deal
Good news for US soccer fans because La Liga was pretty much invisible here on beIN.
Also: Disney paying $175 million/year for ESPN+ to stream La Liga matches, which are played on weekend mornings, US time, is a strong indication that they will pay big bucks for any attractive streaming content they can bring to ESPN+.
(05-14-2021 11:50 AM)Wedge Wrote: [ -> ]* major streaming deal, not major broadcast deal
Good news for US soccer fans because La Liga was pretty much invisible here on beIN.
Also: Disney paying $175 million/year for ESPN+ to stream La Liga matches, which are played on weekend mornings, US time, is a strong indication that they will pay big bucks for any attractive streaming content they can bring to ESPN+.
I don't expect La Liga to rival the EPL in terms of American audience, but it was the league with the most to lose by continuing in their previous strategy.
I would also expect Barcelona and Real Madrid to make regular appearances on ESPN and the like. It's an easy move for everyone. There are lots of dedicated fans to those clubs here...just not as many as you total with the EPL.
It also helps ESPN to have some truly recognizable soccer products. Not that the Italian and German leagues weren't quality, but far lesser known here in the States.
Villarreal just beat Manchester United in the Europa League finals on penalties. That means five teams from LaLiga will play in the next Champions League season. This has historically been a strong league beyond the Big Two*, with Sevilla, Betis, Villarreal, Atletico Madrid, Valencia or Athletic Bilbao being in the conversation.
Disney has picked up a property at a very low cost, considering.
* You could argue that Atletico is a third big team, with their history and titles.
(05-16-2021 06:48 PM)AllTideUp Wrote: [ -> ]I don't expect La Liga to rival the EPL in terms of American audience, but it was the league with the most to lose by continuing in their previous strategy.
La Liga will be the second most-watched European league in the US, though the audience size for both La Liga and Premier League will be hard to find publicly, given that 90% of the games going forward will be on streaming, La Liga on ESPN+ and Premier League on Peacock.
Interestingly, the soccer league with the largest US TV audiences isn't either of those, and isn't MLS, it's Liga MX.
(05-16-2021 06:48 PM)AllTideUp Wrote: [ -> ]It also helps ESPN to have some truly recognizable soccer products. Not that the Italian and German leagues weren't quality, but far lesser known here in the States.
Serie A was expendable once ESPN acquired La Liga, and one suspects that the Serie A audience sizes on ESPN+, which they don't disclose publicly, were small compared to Bundesliga and whatever other ESPN+ content they compare it to. It's also safe to assume that the US audience size for Champions League is very limited, given that all of the matches except the final are on weekdays in midday, which would explain why those US TV rights have changed hands 3 times in the last few years without ESPN even bothering to acquire them once.
(05-27-2021 01:42 PM)Wedge Wrote: [ -> ] (05-16-2021 06:48 PM)AllTideUp Wrote: [ -> ]I don't expect La Liga to rival the EPL in terms of American audience, but it was the league with the most to lose by continuing in their previous strategy.
La Liga will be the second most-watched European league in the US, though the audience size for both La Liga and Premier League will be hard to find publicly, given that 90% of the games going forward will be on streaming, La Liga on ESPN+ and Premier League on Peacock.
Interestingly, the soccer league with the largest US TV audiences isn't either of those, and isn't MLS, it's Liga MX.
(05-16-2021 06:48 PM)AllTideUp Wrote: [ -> ]It also helps ESPN to have some truly recognizable soccer products. Not that the Italian and German leagues weren't quality, but far lesser known here in the States.
Serie A was expendable once ESPN acquired La Liga, and one suspects that the Serie A audience sizes on ESPN+, which they don't disclose publicly, were small compared to Bundesliga and whatever other ESPN+ content they compare it to. It's also safe to assume that the US audience size for Champions League is very limited, given that all of the matches except the final are on weekdays in midday, which would explain why those US TV rights have changed hands 3 times in the last few years without ESPN even bothering to acquire them once.
It's doubtful that UCL will ever be that big here, even on a relative scale. As you've said, they play the games midweek during the day. That's a hard sale for an American audience that doesn't really identify with the nature of the tournament much less the sport.
I follow it to some degree, but only because my favorite club tends to play in Europe. I subscribed to Paramount+ this year to be able to watch the games occasionally.
When it comes to Liga MX, their ratings are half the reason I think MLS has interest in merging with the product. A North American league has some value, I think. That and the market for billionaires willing to drop $300 million on new franchises is going to dry up pretty soon.
Quote:The first game for the 2021-22 La Liga season to be available on all ESPN platforms will be the clash between Valencia and Getafe, scheduled to be played on August 13, 2021. The season-opening weekend will include the first LaLiga on ABC broadcast – Barcelona FC vs. Real Sociedad – on Sunday, Aug. 15, starting at 1:30 p.m.
https://www.livesoccertv.com/news/53166/...-coverage/
(05-27-2021 11:11 PM)AllTideUp Wrote: [ -> ]When it comes to Liga MX, their ratings are half the reason I think MLS has interest in merging with the product.
Could be more than half the reason. The untapped TV market for MLS is the Spanish-language TV audience.
TV audiences in the U.S. for the USMNT vs. Mexico Gold Cup final on August 1st:
English language, on FS1: 1.87 million viewers
Spanish language, on Univision channels: 5.7 million viewers
If MLS can get that untapped market, maybe through competitions with Liga MX teams, that by itself could double their TV audience.
Interesting that La Liga will start on ESPN without both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi for the first time in more than a decade. I know that it's always been a strong league before those two started playing there. Still, it's going to get some getting used to for fans.
As long as Barcelona and Real Madrid win, the ratings will be fine. With any league like that, the popularity would take a hit if the big names dropped from contention for several years.
Manchester United didn't drop off the map when Ronaldo left them for Real Madrid, because they mostly stayed in contention (including 2nd place last season) even if they didn't win the league often. Liverpool has actually been better recently, including winning the league once, than they were when Luis Suarez played there.
Barcelona and Real Madrid just need to reload well, and I don't know if they've done that. We'll find out soon enough.
ESPN doesn't release audience sizes for ESPN+, but it would be interesting to see how ESPN+ audiences for La Liga this year will compare to their audiences for Bundesliga.
(08-11-2021 04:35 PM)Wedge Wrote: [ -> ]As long as Barcelona and Real Madrid win, the ratings will be fine. With any league like that, the popularity would take a hit if the big names dropped from contention for several years.
Manchester United didn't drop off the map when Ronaldo left them for Real Madrid, because they mostly stayed in contention (including 2nd place last season) even if they didn't win the league often. Liverpool has actually been better recently, including winning the league once, than they were when Luis Suarez played there.
Barcelona and Real Madrid just need to reload well, and I don't know if they've done that. We'll find out soon enough.
ESPN doesn't release audience sizes for ESPN+, but it would be interesting to see how ESPN+ audiences for La Liga this year will compare to their audiences for Bundesliga.
In the way that Real Madrid and Barcelona winning La Liga is positive, Bayern Munich losing is a much welcomed sight. They have become such a Death Star for their league that it isn’t even fun to watch anymore.
(08-12-2021 10:41 PM)BePcr07 Wrote: [ -> ] (08-11-2021 04:35 PM)Wedge Wrote: [ -> ]As long as Barcelona and Real Madrid win, the ratings will be fine. With any league like that, the popularity would take a hit if the big names dropped from contention for several years.
Manchester United didn't drop off the map when Ronaldo left them for Real Madrid, because they mostly stayed in contention (including 2nd place last season) even if they didn't win the league often. Liverpool has actually been better recently, including winning the league once, than they were when Luis Suarez played there.
Barcelona and Real Madrid just need to reload well, and I don't know if they've done that. We'll find out soon enough.
ESPN doesn't release audience sizes for ESPN+, but it would be interesting to see how ESPN+ audiences for La Liga this year will compare to their audiences for Bundesliga.
In the way that Real Madrid and Barcelona winning La Liga is positive, Bayern Munich losing is a much welcomed sight. They have become such a Death Star for their league that it isn’t even fun to watch anymore.
Speaking of that and referring to the ratings for Bundesliga, the German league just doesn't have a lot of depth right now. The league is good obviously, but you've got Bayern Munich and everyone else. Dortmund has been a competitor to some degree, but less so in recent years. There's not a lot of legacy brands in that league and those are the ones that tend to draw ratings.
With La Liga, you've got Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Atletico Madrid has made a lot of noise recently. Villareal won Europe League. Other clubs like Sevilla are regularly in the news. I bet the La Liga ratings are significantly better than Bundesliga over here.
Part of that is we have a sizable population with Spanish heritage. I really think half the reason the EPL has become so popular here is because many Americans can identify with and are intrigued by English culture. Much the same will be true for La Liga. Bundesliga, Serie A, and others just don't have that going for them.
(08-12-2021 10:50 PM)AllTideUp Wrote: [ -> ] (08-12-2021 10:41 PM)BePcr07 Wrote: [ -> ] (08-11-2021 04:35 PM)Wedge Wrote: [ -> ]As long as Barcelona and Real Madrid win, the ratings will be fine. With any league like that, the popularity would take a hit if the big names dropped from contention for several years.
Manchester United didn't drop off the map when Ronaldo left them for Real Madrid, because they mostly stayed in contention (including 2nd place last season) even if they didn't win the league often. Liverpool has actually been better recently, including winning the league once, than they were when Luis Suarez played there.
Barcelona and Real Madrid just need to reload well, and I don't know if they've done that. We'll find out soon enough.
ESPN doesn't release audience sizes for ESPN+, but it would be interesting to see how ESPN+ audiences for La Liga this year will compare to their audiences for Bundesliga.
In the way that Real Madrid and Barcelona winning La Liga is positive, Bayern Munich losing is a much welcomed sight. They have become such a Death Star for their league that it isn’t even fun to watch anymore.
Speaking of that and referring to the ratings for Bundesliga, the German league just doesn't have a lot of depth right now. The league is good obviously, but you've got Bayern Munich and everyone else. Dortmund has been a competitor to some degree, but less so in recent years. There's not a lot of legacy brands in that league and those are the ones that tend to draw ratings.
With La Liga, you've got Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Atletico Madrid has made a lot of noise recently. Villareal won Europe League. Other clubs like Sevilla are regularly in the news. I bet the La Liga ratings are significantly better than Bundesliga over here.
Part of that is we have a sizable population with Spanish heritage. I really think half the reason the EPL has become so popular here is because many Americans can identify with and are intrigued by English culture. Much the same will be true for La Liga. Bundesliga, Serie A, and others just don't have that going for them.
I’d also add, as Americans, we are used to watching the best leagues in their given sports daily (NFL, NBA, MLS). The EPL is hands down the best soccer league in the world. La Liga is a close 2nd. I think people are just used to watching the best.
(08-12-2021 10:50 PM)AllTideUp Wrote: [ -> ] (08-12-2021 10:41 PM)BePcr07 Wrote: [ -> ] (08-11-2021 04:35 PM)Wedge Wrote: [ -> ]As long as Barcelona and Real Madrid win, the ratings will be fine. With any league like that, the popularity would take a hit if the big names dropped from contention for several years.
Manchester United didn't drop off the map when Ronaldo left them for Real Madrid, because they mostly stayed in contention (including 2nd place last season) even if they didn't win the league often. Liverpool has actually been better recently, including winning the league once, than they were when Luis Suarez played there.
Barcelona and Real Madrid just need to reload well, and I don't know if they've done that. We'll find out soon enough.
ESPN doesn't release audience sizes for ESPN+, but it would be interesting to see how ESPN+ audiences for La Liga this year will compare to their audiences for Bundesliga.
In the way that Real Madrid and Barcelona winning La Liga is positive, Bayern Munich losing is a much welcomed sight. They have become such a Death Star for their league that it isn’t even fun to watch anymore.
Speaking of that and referring to the ratings for Bundesliga, the German league just doesn't have a lot of depth right now. The league is good obviously, but you've got Bayern Munich and everyone else. Dortmund has been a competitor to some degree, but less so in recent years. There's not a lot of legacy brands in that league and those are the ones that tend to draw ratings.
With La Liga, you've got Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Atletico Madrid has made a lot of noise recently. Villareal won Europe League. Other clubs like Sevilla are regularly in the news. I bet the La Liga ratings are significantly better than Bundesliga over here.
Part of that is we have a sizable population with Spanish heritage. I really think half the reason the EPL has become so popular here is because many Americans can identify with and are intrigued by English culture. Much the same will be true for La Liga. Bundesliga, Serie A, and others just don't have that going for them.
ESPN+ will air La Liga matches in Spanish as well as in English, and they'll put some matches on ESPN Deportes, so maybe they will draw some of the viewers who watch the Spanish-language Liga MX telecasts.