Telecommunications company Vodafone has revamped its sports offering in Spain after concluding a deal for rights to the Formula One motor-racing championship and the MotoGP motorcycling championship.
Vodafone announced the acquisition of rights to the two series yesterday (Thursday) in a move which will open up their coverage in Spain.
The Movistar arm of rival telco Telefónica has previously been the sole pay-television destination for F1 and MotoGP, but Vodafone in September sealed an agreement that was set to commence with the 2017 seasons of the two series.
Earlier in 2016, Vodafone filed a complaint with the Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y La Competencia, Spain’s competition regulator, over Telefónica’s apparent unwillingness to make its coverage of the series available on rival platforms.
Vodafone claimed that the situation contravened a condition imposed by the CNMC when the regulator gave the green light to Telefónica’s takeover of Spanish pay-television operator Canal Plus in April 2015. The condition said Telefónica must share 50 per cent of its premium content, such as movies and sports coverage, with its rivals.
Vodafone has now said it will provide live coverage of all races and qualifying sessions from F1 and MotoGP, along with additional programming. The telco has created a new motorsport package entitled Vodafone Motor, which will include the Movistar Formula 1 and Movistar MotoGP channels. The package will be available from March 9 and is priced at €10 ($11) per month.
A new Vodafone Sport package has also launched which will combine Vodafone Motor with the existing football-dedicated package, which has been rebranded Vodafone Fútbol.
Vodafone Sport will also include the Eurosport1, Eurosport2, Extreme Sports, Fight Sports and Real Madrid TV channels.
In order to promote the new offering, Vodafone has signed two-time F1 world champion Fernando Alonso and three-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez (pictured) as brand ambassadors.