Facebook has struck a landmark deal with
Spain's top soccer league to broadcast its matches in
India.
Under the agreement announced Tuesday, the
social network will broadcast 380 first division
La Liga matches a year. The games, which will feature teams including FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, will be shown live and for free.
The three-year deal is the latest example of tech companies wresting sports broadcasting rights away from traditional broadcasters. It could also boost Facebook in India, a key market where the social network is hoping to add hundreds of millions of users.
In addition to India, Facebook (FB) said it would also broadcast the matches in neighboring countries, including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.
"As home to the two most-followed sports clubs on Facebook and some of the world's most iconic footballers, La Liga has a huge global presence on our platform," Peter Hutton, the head of global live sports programming at Facebook, said in a statement.
"We see this as a great opportunity to not only bring people together around world-class football, but also help La Liga reach new audiences and grow its visibility in a key development market," he added.