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Facebook to air La Liga matches for free in Indian subcontinent

La Liga said social media giant Facebook will air the matches in the Indian subcontinent for free for three years.

By Pti
El Clasico between Barcelona and Real Madrid in the La Liga is one of the most anticipated football fixtures

Mumbai, August 14: Spanish football league La Liga on Tuesday (August 14) said social media giant Facebook will air the matches in the Indian subcontinent for free for three years. The three-season deal commences with the 2018-19 campaign kicking off on August 17.

"Now with Facebook, La Liga has broken new ground, signing its first broadcast agreement ever with a social media platform," it said in a statement.

All 380 first division matches of Spain's topflight football league will be available for free to people on Facebook in eight countries - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The Facebook community in the eight countries will be able to watch La Liga Santander coverage on a live and on-demand basis through multiple devices. The matches would be available on the official La Liga Facebook page as well as individual club pages, the statement added.

In addition to the live matches, shoulder programming, including a full range of weekly preview shows and highlights, will be offered. "We are thrilled to team up with Facebook to bring the millions of La Liga fans in the Indian subcontinent even closer to the action. La Liga sets the standard for football in the world and we are delighted that more people than ever before will have the opportunity to watch our matches live and for free through Facebook in the region," said Javier Tebas, president, La Liga.

For major matches, viewers can see interactive studio coverage hosted by Joe Morrison. "We see this as a great opportunity to not only bring people together around world-class football, but also help La Liga reach new audiences and grow its visibility in a key development market," said Peter Hutton, head - global live sports programming, Facebook.

There will be no advertisements during the matches, the deal has promised. But Facebook is still researching on bringing in adverts on live programming in the United States, where it streams the Major League Baseball.

This collaboration of a social network with a league is the latest among the tech groups jumping on the sports bandwagon to woo young viewers on their platforms. Amazon will stream 20 Premier League matches from 2019 on its streaming platform Prime Video.

The Sony Ten Network holds the TV telecast rights for airing the league. With Facebook enjoying a presence of over 370 million users in India, this deal with La Liga will go a long way in helping football take shape in the country.

Story first published: Tuesday, August 14, 2018, 15:08 [IST]
Other articles published on Aug 14, 2018