At the launch of a La Liga backed study ‘of football consumption in public places’ which analyses the economic impact of legally viewed La Liga matched on bars in Spain, La Liga President Javier Tebas announced his ambition to “to end audiovisual piracy” regarding the broadcast of football in bars and increase its subscriber base from around 50,000 “to 85,000 businesses.”
He praised recent efforts to crack down on illegal showings of La Liga matches in bars and reminded the audience that “you have to think that until two seasons ago, 40% of the bars did not have football legal, that is, 1 in 3 bars was not legal.”
Tebas concluded by stressing the importance of clamping down on piracy activities by bars: “We have to be legal. It is a crime what they do and we have to try to stop them. We are an industry that creates many jobs, and we have to defend those who meet the standards.”
The study revealed that 15m people watch La Liga matches in bars throughout Spain, of which 3m watch a game at least once a week. Those bars enjoying these high viewing figures are seeing their income doubled.
