Eleven Sports In Talks On Its UK Rights Deals

December 13, 2018

Eleven Sports is working to preserve rights deals for LaLiga and other properties to carry on its fledgling OTT service in the UK and Ireland.

Eleven Sports was to have become the new home of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in those territories January, but it has confirmed difficulties in securing the necessary additional carriage agreements in order to supplement its own streaming platform.

Eleven Sports told the Daily Telegraph that the service is in talks to restructure its deals for LaLiga and Serie A, among other rights.

A spokesperson told the newspaper: “Without carriage agreements with the existing platforms, alongside the challenges posed by rampant piracy, the current market dynamics in the UK and Ireland are very hostile for new entrants.

“We are in discussions with our rights partners, La Liga and IMG, about how we can restructure our existing agreements in order to continue our current OTT service.”

In July Eleven Sports announced a strategic partnership with IMG securing Serie A rights in the UK and Ireland.

LaLiga reached an agreement with Eleven Sports earlier in the year for streaming as well as other rights. The Spanish league is not commenting on the current situation.