CANAL+ and LALIGA have signed an anti-piracy agreement covering nearly 50 countries across Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa and Haiti, in one of the most ambitious collaborations yet struck between a global broadcaster and a major sports competition.
The agreement, signed last week in Paris and Madrid, will see the two organisations share intelligence, coordinate enforcement strategies and accelerate action against illegal distribution networks operating across multiple territories, the companies said in a joint statement.
"Piracy is no longer only a copyright issue; it has become one of the greatest threats to the sustainability of sport, undermining investment, innovation and the long-term value of audiovisual rights," the statement said.
CANAL+, now present in nearly 70 countries, and LALIGA have built a longstanding relationship through the distribution of Spanish football. The new agreement extends that cooperation beyond broadcast rights into joint enforcement against piracy.
Maxime Saada, CEO of CANAL+, said: "By combining our anti-piracy expertise, we are significantly enhancing our ability to take action. All players in the sports industry, without exception, and more broadly all stakeholders in the audiovisual and creative industries, have a role to play in tackling the scourge of piracy."
Javier Tebas, president of LALIGA, said: "Piracy is one of the greatest challenges facing the future of sports, one that no organisation can tackle this problem alone, which is why partnerships like this one are so important. By joining forces with CANAL+, we are bringing together technology, intelligence and operational expertise to protect the value of our competitions, defend the investment made by broadcasters and clubs, and ultimately safeguard the future of football."
The stakes are particularly high in Africa, where CANAL+'s footprint has grown substantially since its takeover of MultiChoice, uniting DStv, GOtv, Showmax, M-Net and SuperSport under one group, as ITWeb Africa reported last year.
Piracy is a growing drain on the continent's broadcasters:
ITWeb Africa also reported in July that piracy costs Kenya alone an estimated $712 million a year, with premium content such as live sport identified as a priority target for enforcement under a new national anti-piracy framework.
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