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Disney is in advanced talks to show top-flight Spanish football matches in the UK and Ireland, in a sign of the US company’s desire to screen live sport on its streaming platform.
La Liga, which runs the top two divisions in Spain, is closing in on a deal for Disney+ to screen one match a week, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.
Pay-television company Premier Sports is to remain the league’s main broadcaster in the territories, screening more than 300 matches, the people said.
Top English players such as Jude Bellingham and Trent Alexander-Arnold play for Real Madrid, while former Manchester United player Marcus Rashford has signed for Barcelona on loan. International stars such as Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal also play in La Liga.
The hope for La Liga, which is targeting weekend slots that do not typically feature English Premier League matches, is that a deal with Disney would reinforce the Spanish league’s appeal in the post-Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo era.
Ahead of the talks with Disney, sports agency Peak Sport Media, which works with La Liga to commercialise its rights, had flagged the competition’s popularity in the 18-24 and 25-34 age ranges that are key to growing subscriber numbers.
The agreements would be worth less than £20mn a year to La Liga, said a person with knowledge of the deal.
La Liga clubs made just shy of €1.8bn in broadcasting revenue in 2023-24, second only to rivals in the Premier League, which made €3.8bn, according to Deloitte’s annual review of football finance. Disney’s ESPN broadcasts La Liga in the US in a deal worth $1.4bn over the eight seasons to 2028-29.
The large US streamers are increasingly seeking to buy rights to live events around the world, with executives in particular viewing sport as unique content to act as a valuable subscription driver in a crowded TV market.
Amazon has acquired a number of sporting rights, including the NBA, NFL Thursday Night Football and Uefa Champions League, while Netflix shows Christmas Day NFL games and has agreed to show WWE wrestling.
Disney has been less active in this market than some rivals, although it has agreed the rights to show the Uefa Women’s Champions League across Europe from next season and Uefa Europa League and Uefa Conference League football in Sweden and Denmark.
However, the value of media rights in top-level European football has fallen in real terms in recent years.
Analysts at Enders have estimated the total value of live football TV rights in the top five European markets, spanning domestic and Uefa competitions, will be worth €7.3bn in the 2025-26 season, unchanged from 2018-19 — the final season before the pandemic.
Disney, La Liga and Premier Sports declined to comment.
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