Free football on public television is getting closer. The arrival of LaLiga to RTVE has been rumored for a few months, and the truth is that there is less and less time left for it to become a reality. The last step that the public corporation has taken is to reach a verbal agreement with Mediapro. So everything is on track so that TVE’s plans are fulfilled.
For a few months there has been talk about the possibility of LaLiga’s free-to-air matches leaving GOL Play and landing on none other than La 2. Supposedly, this DTT channel would be the one chosen by RTVE for the free matches on Fridays. . However, the final approval of the RTVE Council is missing.
In recent weeks, the RTVE Board has had to make several decisions, among them, the signing of presenter David Broncano to bring ‘La Resistencia’ to TVE. Therefore, the program will abandon Movistar Plus+ this year. Now, it remains to be seen what the final decision on football is, since it will also involve a significant investment for the public entity.
The verbal agreement between Mediapro and TVE
There is nothing signed, it is a verbal agreement between Mediapro and the public channel in Spain. It is the RTVE Council that has the final say on the final purchase of LaLiga’s free-to-air matches, starting next season. However, there is no doubt that the idea of getting more free-to-air football is one of the objectives that the public broadcaster has had on the table for months.
In June 2022, Mediapro managed to win the LaLiga rights to broadcast the free-to-air match of each matchday. Hence, GOL Play is the channel in charge of broadcasting the matches of this competition. However, this agreement comes to an end in the next 2024-2025 season. Therefore, the idea that RTVE has is to ensure that for the next season the La 2 channel is in charge of broadcasting the free-to-air matches of each day.
In this agreement there will be the same limitations as until now during these last seasons. For example, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético de Madrid and Valencia matches cannot be broadcast. And nor from the clubs that are playing in any European competition.
The sports offer of Spanish Television
There is no doubt that the icing on the cake is the Friday game for TVE. In this way, the public chain could put the finishing touch to its current sports offering. For example, it already has the broadcasting rights for the matches of the Spanish national football team until 2027. Euro 2024 can even be experienced in its entirety on RTVE. And we must not forget that it also has other competitions, such as the Champions League final or Copa del Rey matches until 2025. RTVE will even offer the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. So all that is missing is the open match of the LaLiga to have the most complete sports offer for DTT.
