Argentine free-to-air (FTA) network, and the state broadcaster, TV Publica will not be permitted to show action from the country’s top-tier soccer league next season, according to reports.
The Argentine Football Association (AFA), media sources in the country have reported, has now told ESPN, one of the two main domestic rights-holders for the Primera Division, that next year it will not be permitted to sub-license rights to TV Publica, thus potentially ending coverage of the competition on FTA TV.
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ESPN has been sub-licensing games – initially one, and then two – to TV Publica for the last few years, but reports suggest that practice will be forced to stop ahead of the 2024-25 Primera Division season.
The deals the league has in place with the ESPN and TNT Sports networks currently apply to those broadcasters only – any other deals have to be approved by the AFA.
Up until this point, that approval has never caused issues – now, however, that position has seemingly changed.
This move, it has been reported, is linked to the political situation in Argentina, with libertarian Javier Milei having become president last December and having on several occasions since expressed his desire to shut down or privatize TV Publica.
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By GlobalDataThe last top-tier soccer content covered by that network was the Copa America national teams competition earlier this year in the US.
The 2024 Primera Division got underway in May 10 and December 15.
