beIN Sports extends European football across the US
| 20 August 2015
beIN Sports has renewed its exclusive broadcast rights for three of the top football leagues in the world - Spain's La Liga, Italy's Serie A and France's Ligue 1 - and will deliver them across the US from the 2015-2016 season.
Renewing its bet on international football , all matches will be available on beIN Sports, beIN Sports en Español and beIN Sports Connect, the network's live streaming platform.
"We at beIN SPORTS are thrilled to announce the renewal of these three great competitions, and we are very happy that we will continue to provide sports fans with the world's best sporting events," said Yousef Al-Obaildly, deputy CEO of beIN Media Group. "With so many exclusive live matches, beIN SPORTS continues to provide the content that passionate soccer and sports fans crave."
Ready to kick off tomorrow (21 August), La Liga is the top football league in Spain, with star-studded talent including Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar Jr, James Rodriguez and Luis Suarez.
Serie A, Italy's first division, also kicks off this weekend. The top matches to watch this season include three-time defending champions Juventus who face last year's runner up Roma on 30August, as well as the Milan Derby, on 13 September.
France's Ligue 1 started on 7 August and features the rivalry between Olympique Marseille and three-time defending champions Paris Saint-Germain.
Barcelona, the reigning European champions, start their La Liga title defence with revenge on their minds when they visit Athletic Bilbao on Monday morning (Singapore time).
The match will be an opportunity for Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Co. to put an ever-improving Bilbao side in their place, after Ernesto Valverde's men posted a 5-1 aggregate victory over Luis Enrique's aristocrats in the Spanish Super Cup.
It is a potentially explosive encounter, but football fans in Singapore will not be able to watch it on TV.
Fox Sports Asia, which has had the local rights to the Spanish top flight since 2012, was not successful in securing a deal this time around. The channel, which is available on both StarHub and Singtel TV, will not screen any La Liga matches this season.
The New Paper understands that the Asian rights to the league were secured by beIN Sports, which does not have a channel in Singapore. Owned by Qatari Sports Investments, beIN is a global network of sports channels founded in 2012.
When contacted, a spokesman for Fox Sports said: "Fox Sports has been officially informed by (Spanish communications group) Mediapro that it has not been successful in renewing its broadcast rights to the Liga BBVA in Singapore.
DOES THIS MEAN THAT THE ONLY WAY FOR ASTRO TO BROADCAST LA LIGA, SERIE A AND LIGUE 1 IS BY STRIKING A DEAL WITH BEIN SPORT?