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Sky loses La Liga rights to streaming service

Sky loses La Liga rights to streaming service
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Sky Sports loses the UK broadcast rights for La Liga to a streaming service owned by Leeds United chairman Andrea Radrizzani.

Sky Sports has lost the UK rights to La Liga to a streaming service owned by Leeds United chairman Andrea Radrizzani.

Sky has broadcast the Spanish top flight for the last 20 years, but this weekend's El Clasico match will be one of the final games aired by the broadcaster.

Radrizzani's little-known service Eleven Sports has poached the broadcasting rights for the next three seasons with a bid in excess of the £18m-a-season offered by Sky.

Eleven currently operates in a small number of countries including the US, where it broadcasts competitions such as the NBA G League, the Belgian Pro League and the World Darts Series.

The broadcaster has yet to confirm how it will show La Liga in the UK, with launching a dedicated channel or an independent streaming service among its options.

"This is an incredibly exciting time for our young and dynamic company and we will announce soon how we will introduce innovative ways for dedicated fans to watch and engage in the live action," said CEO Marc Watson.

"The way people, especially young people, watch live sport is changing and we always try to reflect that in the ways we make our product available. We are excited about the opportunities we have to do this in the UK and Ireland."

La Liga chief Javier Tebas added: "We have worked very hard to promote the excellence of La Liga in the UK and Ireland and we are confident that Eleven Sports will help us to grow and innovate our brand in the market for years to come."

The move means that as it stands, Sky's portfolio of non-English football rights will include just the Scottish Premiership, Major League Soccer and the Chinese Super League from next season.

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Neil Wilkes
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