Chinese sports and entertainment company Wuhan DDMC Culture Co has acquired rights for Spanish football’s LaLiga.
The deal in China will start immediately and run until the end of the 2021-22 season.
DDMC said in a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange that its subsidiary, Nice International Sports, had agreed the deal with LaLiga, which operates the top two divisions of Spanish football.
The transaction means that Suning Group, which was exploiting the rights through its PPTV streaming platform under a five-season deal, from 2015-16 to 2019-20, has sold back their rights, according to the Reuters news agency.
However, a DDMC executive said that “Suning remains an important partner… and PPTV still an important broadcasting channel”. The report suggested that Suning would have the right of first refusal on distributing coverage of matches.
Last year, DDMC and Suning established a joint venture to focus on the Chinese sports-rights market, while DDMC also acquired Super Sports Media, including the latter’s rights to football’s English Premier League in China.