LaLiga launches LaLiga Pass streaming service in Indonesia and Thailand

LaLiga, the organising body for the top two domestic football leagues in Spain, has announced that it will launch its new OTT streaming service in Indonesia and Thailand later this month.

LaLiga Pass, which was unveiled by LaLiga president Javier Tebas back in October, will provide live coverage of all matches from the top-tier LaLiga Santander league and second-tier LaLiga SmartBank league.

It will initially cost IDR45,000 ($3.13/€2.87) per month in Indonesia and THB99 ($2.95/€2.72) per month in Thailand and will be available to stream online, on mobile devices and on smart televisions, LaLiga said.

Three matches per week will be narrated in Bahasa and Thai – the first time live LaLiga coverage has been offered in the languages – and the service will also offer exclusive content for Indonesian and Thai audiences.

In addition, the streaming service will provide access to LaLiga’s in-house television channel LaLiga TV.

SportBusiness understands that Thailand and Indonesia have been selected to launch the service as it is allowed under the terms of LaLiga’s existing media rights deal with pay-television broadcaster beIN Sports.

Furthermore, it is understood that LaLiga does not have imminent plans to roll out the service in other markets. Instead, the league is focused on testing and improving the product for the remainder of this season.

A well-placed source told SportBusiness that LaLiga Pass will be used to collect data about fans in Southeast Asia which will support LaLiga’s regional strategy and benefit its local suppliers and broadcast partners.

The source added that LaLiga views the service as “complementary” to its existing global media strategy.

LaLiga digital strategy director Alfredo Bermejo said: “One of the keys of the entertainment sector is to be able to offer a high degree of personalisation…[and] to speak to each fan in their own language.

“We believe that LaLiga Pass, and all the technology behind it, is a big step in this direction and will be a great option for those who want to enjoy LaLiga and everything that surrounds it.”

LaLiga executive director Oscar Mayo added: “We have strived to improve the experience for fans watching LaLiga from different parts of the world and we now want to take things a step further by allowing them to have more control over what they watch, offering more and better content, and telling more stories around LaLiga.”

Back in October, Tebas identified Thailand as a market where LaLiga could trial the service.

He said at the Sportel conference in Monaco: “We’re going to the markets where we believe it’s going to be an advantage for all the broadcasters at this moment in time. We have suggested it in India with broadcasters there and Thailand but it’s very dependent on location because the product in each location is very different.

“It depends on what the broadcasters require and what we think we can bring to the table.”

Tebas added that the service will only be rolled out “if the [existing] broadcaster so wishes” but went on to say “it doesn’t mean that in the future we won’t be able to go [direct-to-consumer] directly”.

Back in 2019, the German Bundesliga announced it is also working on a subscription streaming service as a means of self-protection and as a way to provide leverage during media rights negotiations with broadcasters.

However, the Bundesliga Pass has not been launched in international markets to date. Sport Business