LALIGA and CANAL+ have signed a strategic anti-piracy agreement covering nearly 50 countries, bringing the Spanish league and broadcaster together to strengthen the fight against illegal sports streaming.
The agreement involves a cooperation agreement over the territories in Europe, sub-Saharan Africa and in Haiti, to bring together the two longstanding commercial partners and to coordinate football content protection. Both sides will exchange information, coordination of enforcement efforts, and technological and operational experience to combat the piracy organisations across the various markets.
CANAL+ is one of the oldest distributors of LALIGA events in Europe, in France, Africa and Haiti. The new cooperation is not just about a typical media rights deal; it’s about a new program that is built around locating and blocking illegal distribution.
Both spoke of “piracy” as a problem for the sports industry. The two entities referred to “piracy” as a big issue for the sports industry. Streaming without authorization can impact club revenue, which in turn affects the club’s ability to run, invest in youth development, invest in broadcast production and can pose risk to viewers.
There is a cyber dimension to combating illegal sports broadcasts, as consumers downloading and watching on unlicensed streaming platforms could potentially fall victim to malware, fraud and attempts to steal personal information.
The size of the deal was proof of the company’s interest in content protection from piracy, said CANAL+’s CEO Maxime Saada. The merger of the two organisations’ expertise would enhance their capacity to deal with growing sophistication in piracy operations, he said.
LALIGA president Javier Tebas also stressed the importance of collective effort and how individual organisations cannot wipe out piracy networks that span multiple borders without it. The agreement will thus pool technology, intelligence and enforcement efforts in an attempt to safeguard the value of LALIGA competitions and the investments of broadcasters.
