Telefonica acquires more soccer TV rights in 2.4 billion euro deal

MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish telecoms group Telefonica said on Tuesday its pay TV division had reached a 2.4 billion-euro ($2.60 billion) deal with rival Mediapro that will allow it to offer clients more La Liga and Champions League soccer matches for several seasons.

Telefonica’s DTS unit, which had already won the rights to show some Spanish games allocated by La Liga, agreed with Mediapro that its clients would gain access to games shown on Mediapro’s BeIn Sports channel.

This includes first and second division La Liga matches and King’s Cup games for the next three seasons, starting with the 2016-17 season. It also gives Telefonica’s pay TV customers immediate access to UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League matches, up until and including the 2017-18 season.

(Reporting by Sarah White and Andres Gonzalez; editing by Susan Thomas)