Sport TV and Allianz back Portugal’s Taça da Liga

Liga Portugal, the organising body of Portuguese club football, has agreed broadcast and sponsorship agreements for the Taça da Liga competition, as well as a wide-ranging deal with the Olivedesportos agency.

Pay-television broadcaster Sport TV, of which Olivedesportos is a stakeholder, has become the new domestic rights-holder of the Taça da Liga under a four-season deal that will run from 2018-19 to 2021-22.

Sport TV succeeds public-service broadcaster RTP, which held a contract for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons.

Meanwhile, German financial services company Allianz has further enhanced its presence in the football market by agreeing a two-season deal to become the new title sponsor of the Taça da Liga.

The contract will run across the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons, with the tournament renamed as the Allianz Cup. Allianz succeeds CTT, the national postal service of Portugal, as title sponsor.

The draw for the first phase of the 2018-19 Allianz Cup will take place on July 11 in Coimbra, and the Final Four will once again be played in Braga on January 22, 23 and 26. Sporting CP is the reigning champion having defeated Vitória de Setúbal in the 2017-18 final for its first Taça da Liga title.

Like Sport TV’s deal, Olivedesportos’ contract will also run for four seasons and will include other activities outside of the Taça da Liga.

Joaquim Oliveira, president of Olivedesportos’ board of directors, said: “There was a black storm that went through the Liga, but it was repaired in time and the Liga is on the right track. Clearly we are a credible institution that Portuguese football needs during this turbulence.”