Telefónica wants total exclusivity at the cost of leaving Dazn without him

Telefónica wants Bet everything for football. And after having lost the rights of retransmission of the ACBthe NBA and the NFL, the company wants to radically change its sports strategy. The operator now intends to get all the rights of LaLiga and the Champions League, something that would break her Dazn dependence and also stop the bleeding of her premium subscribers.

A change of course. According to account The Middle El Confidencial, Javier de Paz, president of Movistar, has already transferred to Javier Tebas his intention to bid alone for the next three seasons of LaLiga from the 2026-2027. The same strategy wants to apply with the Champions League, whose rights expire a year earlier. The movement involves a 180 degree turn with respect to the previous awards, where Telefónica and Dazn distributed the meetings. In fact, Telefónica considered as a success This cast, since the firm was saved about 420 million euros per year.

Why is now urgent. Movistar numbers are in red numbers. According to affirms The medium, the platform has gone from four million subscribers to 3.6 million at the end of June. Worse: 600,000 of those clients belong to Low cost OTT Movistar Plus+ that launched in 2024 for just 9.90 euros per month, which drastically reduces the income per user. In this way, the operator would have lost its most profitable customers, those who paid more than 100 euros for having access to all matches or a good number of sports channels.

Loss of rights. The company has also lost iconic competitions, which has ignited all alarms. The ACB, after ten years exclusively, has left Dazn and TVE after Movistar refused to pay the 20 million requested and offered only 12. The NBA has flown to prime videokeeping only some games and part of the playoffs. And the NFL, which included the exclusive of the Super Bowl, has also abandoned the platform.

A Survival Strategy. Given this situation, Movistar has launched desperate measures to keep its users: Punctual offers of 4.99 euros for three months, All LaLiga Hypermotion and the acquisition of Latin American competitions such as the Argentine Professional League and the Brasileira Betano. However, these new additions hardly compensate for recent losses.

Obstacles on the road. As Point out The medium, Javier Tebas has responded that LaLiga must guarantee maximum transparency and open the auction to the largest number of interested parties, in order to raise the sale price. This would also come as a ring to the finger after the pressure of Real Madrid, where Florentino Pérez already has filed several complaints against LaLiga’s award model. The tender will begin in September, and Dazn, backed by Len Blavatnik’s financial musclehe will not stay with crossed ones.

Cover image | Movistar Plus+ and Dazn

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