Direct-to-consumer broadcast deal for the Spanish top flight dead as Chinese tech partner closes down
La Liga's OTT live streaming platform in China, named LaLiga Plus, has shut down after around six months of activity. The service came out in August 2022 and is now gone less than a year into a six year agreement with technology partner Streamline Media.
The company with which La Liga was co-operating, Streamline Media, has now ceased to exist, bringing to an end the short-lived Chinese broadcast venture.
LaLiga Plus represented a streaming-only approach for the Spanish top flight in China, after the league's previous TV rights deal with Chinese company Super Sports Media was cancelled.
La Liga cited missing payments on the part of Super Sports Media upon terminating that agreement, and went in a DTC direction by teaming up with Streamline Media, who have now since gone under.
Missing payments from broadcasters in China haven't just hampered La Liga. In 2020, the Premier League removed themselves from a three-year deal with PP Sports after alleging that the company owed them two payments totalling around £150m.
Migu now the only place to watch La Liga in China
This news will come as a great disappointment to La Liga fans living in China, as LaLiga Plus was setup to air every match of the league season, as well as 462 games from the Spanish Segunda.
Many of those matches have been available to watch for free throughout the season on the platform, with only the biggest and most high-profile games being tucked away behind a paywall.
Streamline Media were brought on board to turn La Liga's vision for a Chinese standalone platform into a reality, and did so, but now the company has ceased trading, LaLiga Plus will no longer remain operational.
Following the news of LaLiga Plus' demise, a statement from the league outlined plans to continue bringing coverage to its Chinese fanbase:
‘Despite the cessation of broadcasts in LaLiga Plus by Streamline Media, LaLiga will continue to work to offer fans in China differentiating experiences in a strategic market for the growth of the competition.’
This development now leaves mobile streaming platform Migu as the only La Liga rights holder in China and the only way for fans to follow their favourite Spanish teams in the country.
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