LALIGA has entered into a landmark partnership with French global media and broadcasting company CANAL+ to strengthen efforts to combat sports content piracy.
The agreement brings together the expertise of one of the world’s leading football leagues and a major international broadcaster, with the two organisations set to collaborate on intelligence sharing, enforcement strategies and coordinated action against illicit sports content distribution networks.
Under the partnership, LALIGA and CANAL+ will work to identify and disrupt piracy operations across multiple markets, while developing more effective approaches to protect premium sports content. The initiative aims to safeguard the value of LALIGA’s competitions, protect broadcasters’ investments, and ensure fans and subscribers can continue to access content through legitimate platforms.
Commenting on the agreement, LALIGA President Javier Tebas said piracy remains one of the biggest challenges facing the future of sports and requires coordinated action across the industry.
“By joining forces with CANAL+, we are bringing together technology, intelligence and operational expertise to protect the value of our competitions, defend the investment made by broadcasters and clubs, and ultimately safeguard the future of football,” Tebas said.
CANAL+ CEO Maxime Saada said the partnership’s scale reflects the company’s strategic commitment to tackling content piracy and protecting the wider sports and audiovisual ecosystem.
He noted that piracy affects all stakeholders across the sports, audiovisual and creative industries, adding that combining CANAL+ and LALIGA’s anti-piracy capabilities would significantly strengthen their ability to respond to illegal content distribution.
The partnership highlights the growing importance of collaboration between rights holders, broadcasters and technology providers as sports piracy becomes increasingly sophisticated and operates across international markets.
Headquartered in France, CANAL+ is a global media and entertainment group with more than 40 million subscribers across Europe, Africa and Asia. Its operations span pay-TV, streaming and live sports broadcasting, as well as film and television production and distribution through its STUDIOCANAL subsidiary.
