Facebook To Broadcast La Liga Matches For Free

Facebook has signed an exclusive deal to show every La Liga game, for the next three seasons in Asian subcontinent for free.

All 380 football matches of the new 2018-2019 La Liga season, which begins Friday, will be available to watch on the social media network in India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, La Liga said in a statement on Tuesday.

“We are delighted to team up with Facebook and be able to bring the action closer to all followers of La Liga in the Indian subcontinent,” said La Liga President Javier Tebas.

There are 348m Facebook users in the region, 270m of them are in India.

The rights were previously held by Sony Pictures Network which reportedly paid $32 million (€28 million) for rights between 2014 and 2018.

Several tech groups have secured rights for various sports, in a bid to keep young viewers on their platforms.

Earlier this year, Amazon acquired rights for 20 English Premier League matches a season from 2019 in Britain.

Facebook’s foray into sports streaming began in 2017 when it started airing weekly Major League Baseball games in the US, at a reported cost of $1m per game.

Outside the US, the National Basketball Association NBA, is being streamed in China – by online giant Tencent. An average of 2m people watch each game.

Earlier this month it won the rights to show one La Liga and one Serie A game per week on its platform in the UK. But this latest deal is its first direct deal with a major football league, according to Bloomberg.

Facebook told Reuters it was interested in making further sports streaming acquisition.