La Liga President Javier Tebas is on a Mission to End Piracy

Last week, LA LIGA President Javier Tebas was in New York to address the United Nations General Assembly. At the top of his agenda was the growing internet piracy problem plaguing the sport. He met me beforehand at the new LALIGA office in Chelsea. We talked about the Spanish football league’s campaign against illegal broadcasting and the possibility of a competitive LALIGA match in the USA.

Tebas said LA LIGA has been fighting against illegal broadcasts for more than 11 years. He called last week piracy “The biggest challenge in the world of football and the sports industry in general.” In fact, in recent months illegal broadcasts appear to have been the outspoken LA LIGA president’s favorite topic of conversation, and for good reason: he says it costs LA LIGA around €700 million every season.

LA LIGA is not the only league suffering from this situation. Last year, the UFC, NBA and NFL released a statement. joint statement The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) calculated that “the global sports industry loses up to $28 billion in additional potential revenue annually” due to piracy. Piracy tracking firm VFT calculated Approximately 17 million fans watched the 2024 Super Bowl illegally. Moreover, a 2023 survey of more than 3,000 NFL fans showed that 35% of respondents were illegally streaming NFL games.

The LA LIGA president does not want to sit idly by while this problem continues. This season, LA LIGA started fining fans who access their content illegally. Thanks to a decision by a Spanish court, the Spanish league now has access to the first and last names of certain fans (certain parameters had to be met) who illegally pirated its content. Tebas sent thousands of fines amounting to 450.16 euros, stating that “the majority of fans agreed to pay and then stopped pirating.”

While piracy may seem like a minor problem to the average fan looking to save a few bucks, it’s an existential threat to major sports leagues. According to Tebas, around €300 million of the €700 million lost annually comes from illegal broadcasters in Spain. The remaining 400 million Euros were lost in the global market. This loss means less money is made from TV deals and then less money is transferred to the clubs that make up the league.

It’s hard to feel sorry for leagues and clubs worth billions or hundreds of millions of dollars, but when fans stop to think about it, an argument emerges that they’re hurting the clubs they claim to love. But it’s hard to imagine they would see it that way.

Tebas fears that if illegal broadcasting continues apace, some TV broadcast deals could be reduced when they next enter into negotiations. He says he sees this as a “real possibility” and stated in an earlier interview: “If this piracy thing doesn’t change in two years, the audiovisual rights will expire. Salaries could fall and some clubs could disappear.”

There is light at the end of the tunnel for the LA LIGA president. A recent federal court decision in Argentina ordered Google will block the download and use of the well-known pirate platform Magis TV. The impact of the decision in Argentina cannot be underestimated. Tebas says that until this point, Google said they could not block the Android application, but now they would have to.

Tebas hopes that similar rulings can be implemented elsewhere in the world, noting that LALIGA is involved and has prepared nearly 70 criminal cases against Google as a “necessary collaborator in the theft of television broadcasting rights.” He added: “All publishers know that Google’s piracy is one of their main or major problems.”

Clarifying his point, the LA LIGA president explained that most fans use two methods to find an illegal stream where they are watching a match, a URL search or an app on their smartphones. Fans inevitably use Google when searching for a URL, and the search engine takes advantage of this. Data confirms Tebas’ statement that Google dominates 90% Owns the URL/search engine marketplace and owns Android 70% Piracy may be kept somewhat in check by forcing the smartphone apps market to remove the ability to download and URL access an illegal streaming app from Google.

When asked if a sports league is strong enough to beat Google, Tebas replied: Google es fuerte, but so much more (“Google is powerful, but we (hard to deal with)”)

With so many values ​​at stake, it would make sense for sports leagues around the world to come together and tackle this issue. For now, this has not happened. Tebas is happy to continue leading from the front and is not afraid to take on Google, X, Telegram and other platforms that host illegal publishers or spread the message on how to find their content. He would, however, welcome the assistance of governing bodies and sovereign nations; therefore, he planned to petition world leaders at the UN General Assembly to take the necessary measures to adequately combat a trend that is further impoverishing sports leagues and their economies.

Although his mind was focused on piracy issues, Tebas was also happy to discuss the controversial possibility of a competitive LA LIGA game coming to the United States. Didn’t want to confirm when this would happen – some reports others have stated it could happen as early as this December to say It will be in the 2025-26 season, but “LA LIGA is always thinking about it,” he said.

However, Tebas confirmed that the first competitive LA LIGA match to be played outside Spain will be played in Miami. This is to repay the city’s faith in its previous attempts to bring competitive gaming to the United States. However, questions arise about security and the climate of a city constantly flooded, which has caused major problems in the 2024 Copa America final. It is in the path of a hurricane and has an average annual temperature and humidity of 86.7℉ and 82%.

The Spanish league president also made it clear that no team will be forced to play on foreign soil, they must agree to come voluntarily.

Tebas was also optimistic that losing a home game in the season would not have a negative impact on the local Spanish markets. In fact, he said, bringing the games to the United States was a show of respect to the hundreds of thousands of LA LIGA fans in America. It’s hard to imagine that local Spanish fans will see things the same way.

Competitive gaming in the US has become a common talking point for both the Premier League and LA LIGA, and the Spaniards will not want to be beaten by the world’s biggest sports market by a league that already dwarfs annual TV revenues. If the United States is to become football’s final frontier, LA LIGA must conquer it before its biggest rival.