By Jonathan Rest

Ziggo, the Dutch cable and telecoms firm, has retained exclusive rights in the Netherlands to Spanish soccer's LaLiga.

The new agreement covers the 2021-22 to 2023-24 cycle.

LaLiga coverage will continue to be shown on the basic-tier Ziggo Sport and pay-TV service Ziggo Sport Totaal following the new agreement.

LaLiga launched the sales tender in the Netherlands, and 10 other territories, on 16 June, with bids due on 9 July.

Mediapro, the Spanish agency, is the partner of LaLiga for the distribution of international rights under a five-year deal running to 2023-24.

Other deals done in Europe in recent months include new five-year rights deals for the Balkan region with Arena Sport, the pay-television broadcaster owned by Telekom Serbia, with Telia, the Stockholm-headquartered telecoms operator, in Sweden and Finland, and with commercial broadcasters TV2 in both Denmark and Norway.

Tenders have yet to be releasd for the major European markets such as the UK, Germany, Italy and France.

Last week, StarTimes, the pay-TV broadcaster that operates in sub-Saharan Africa, sealed a four-year, French-language rights deal with LaLiga to the end of the 2023-24 season. That came after the league extended its partnership with SuperSport, in a deal covering languages including English and Portuguese, for the same area and period.

Sportcal