LaLiga’s poorly thought through media rights partnership for the Indian subcontinent with Dubai-based Galaxy Racer (GXR World), which was announced with much fanfare in September 2024, can now be officially said to be dead and buried.
LaLiga confirmed Thursday the signing of a five-year media rights agreement with streaming service Begin that covers Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
This follows on from LaLiga’s agreement signed in May with FanCode for India, the “big daddy” market in the subcontinent.
For the record, FanCode has exclusive rights to broadcast Spanish top-tier (LaLiga) and second-tier (LaLiga Hypermotion) club football in India for the next five years.
It bears noting that FanCode already holds some Spanish club football rights in the country, with its deal for the Copa del Rey and Supercopa de España ending this season.
Coming back to GXR, alongside the now officially dead deal with LaLiga, it had concomitantly announced at the time that it would be live streaming Italy’s Serie A and France’s Ligue 1 games in the subcontinent for the next four years. Those deals also fell flat over payment issues.
In February, LaLiga as well as Ligue 1 went ‘dark’ in India after both leagues cut their signal. Ligue 1 never returned to Indian screens, though LaLiga returned to GXR till May.
Interestingly, GXR’s LaLiga deal was not the first collaboration between the league and the organisation. In 2022, LaLiga and GXR formed a 15-year joint venture designed to “transform” LaLiga’s presence in the Middle East and North Africa, plus the Indian subcontinent. However, this relationship only covers sponsorship and partnerships, and not media rights brokering. This differentiates it from some of LaLiga’s other joint ventures, notably its agreement with Relevent Sports Group covering North America.
Home to global stars like Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Jr, Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski, Antoine Griezmann, Julian Alvarez, and Nico Williams, LaLiga continues to captivate audiences worldwide and has a significant following in India.
The league is among the most followed football tournaments in India (after the Premier League), with top clubs like Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Valencia CF, and Sevilla FC enjoying widespread popularity.
