September 14: Canal+ and LaLiga have signed a wide-ranging anti-piracy agreement covering almost 50 countries, bringing together a major broadcaster and rights holder to try to speed up action against illegal football streams.
The partnership spans Europe, sub-Saharan Africa and Haiti and will see the two sides share intelligence, technology and law enforcement resources. The formal relationship means that, rather than going after pirate networks separately, they can easily coordinate investigations and actions between the markets where Canal+ distributes Spanish football.
Pirated services tend to transcend national borders, while football rights are sold territory by territory, making the fight particularly problematic. Bringing the broadcaster that has paid these rights directly into LaLiga’s enforcement operation provides both sides with more information about where the illegal channels appear and how they move between markets.
The commercial incentive is obvious. Reuters reports that LaLiga’s audiovisual revenue fell 5.2% to €1.43 billion in 2024/25, while Canal+ estimates that piracy alone costs France around €1.5 billion each year.
LaLiga president Javier Tebas said: “Piracy is one of the biggest challenges facing the future of sport, that no organization can tackle this problem alone, which is why collaborations like this are so important. By joining forces with CANAL+, we are bringing together technology, intelligence and operational experience to protect the value of our competitions, defend the investment of television stations and ultimately safeguard football clubs and ultimately safeguard the future”.
LaLiga has hardly been shy in this area. Earlier this year, it secured court orders requiring NordVPN and ProtonVPN to help block IP addresses linked to illegal match streams in Spain. Even some legitimate websites were caught in the crossfire of the League’s anti-piracy measures targeting shared Internet infrastructure.
Canal+ CEO Maxime Saada said: “The unprecedented scale of this partnership reflects the strategic importance that CANAL+ attaches to the fight against content piracy. I am particularly pleased that our Group shares a common conviction with LALIGA, one of the sports leagues most committed to the fight against piracy: piracy undermines the entire sports ecosystem. By combining our anti-piracy action, we take a significant action to improve our anti-piracy capability.
“All players in the sports industry, without exception, and, more broadly, all players in the audiovisual and creative industry, have a role to play in tackling the scourge of piracy. CANAL+ fully accepts its responsibility, and this partnership is a call for all players in the industry to do the same.”
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at (email protected)