Latin America: Facebook pockets the rights of the Champions League unencrypted

The social network Facebook last week signed the rights to some Champions League games for free distribution in Latin America.

This is not a tidal wave, but a small revolution in the world of sports broadcasters: Facebook has acquired some rights of Champions League in Latin America. Admittedly, the deal covers only 32 games per season, from 2018 to 2021, including the Champions League final and the Supercup. 30 group and final phase games. The distribution or the choice of the matches have not been communicated.

These rights are exclusive, for free distribution in Spanish-speaking countries (excluding Brazil). The matches will be available on the Champions League Facebook page, with a geographical block. Wednesday night summaries and additional programs will also be available on the Facebook page. The amount of the rights has not been disclosed.

Facebook has made  a big hit by offering free matches of the most prestigious football championship in the world, very popular in Latin America. This is the second major football acquisition, after La Liga in Asia, when the group hired Peter Hutton, former CEO of Eurosport, at the beginning of the year to oversee the purchase of sports rights. The ambitions of  Facebook are great in sports programs, especially live, and we should see new acquisitions this year again.

In March, Facebook signed an agreement with MLB to broadcast baseball games on its Facebook Watch platform in the United States (exclusive streaming rights for an afternoon game every week). These games are visible outside the US in territories where rights are not available elsewhere.

Fox Sports and ESPN are the pay-TV broadcasters for the Champions League, Europa League and Supercup in Latin America for the period 2018-2021. In the previous cycle (2015-2018), a package of free rights was awarded to the Mexican group Televisa.