LaLiga TV’s launch this week on Sky is welcome news for British fans of Spanish football, and also a big step in La Liga president Javier Tebas’s plan to transition his organisation from a mere organiser of games into a global content provider.

La Liga is the first football league anywhere to run its own TV channel – with the full production managed in-house, then sold ready-made for broadcast to partners around the world.

The 24/7 channel has been produced for three years at the HQ of long-time Spanish broadcast partners Mediapro in Barcelona – and is already shown direct to viewers in North America, sub-saharan Africa, south-east Asia and Australia.

Monday’s UK launch via Premier Sports on Sky’s pay-TV platform is part of a three-season deal with Premier Sports as La Liga’s exclusive broadcast partner in the UK and Ireland. This should fill in what has been very spotty coverage of Spanish football in Britain since Sky Sports stopped showing games at the end of the 2017/18 season.

“People in the UK have missed Spanish football,” LaLigaTV’s Simon Hanley told the Independent on a visit to its Barcelona studios last month. “They want to see Lionel Messi, Gareth Bale, Eden Hazard… the greatest players and the biggest teams in the world. We want people who are passionate about La Liga to be able to watch the games, and also hear our opinions and analysis. So it’s a great opportunity and welcome news.”

Twenty-six hours of live programming each weekend will include every possible live game from La Liga Santander in full HD. There is also daily studio analysis, news and documentary programming, which Hanley says will cover all 20 clubs equally.

Ratings: Spanish Super Cup final Show all 22 1 /22 Ratings: Spanish Super Cup final Ratings: Spanish Super Cup final Thibaut Courtois - 9 BARCELONA, SPAIN - DECEMBER 18: Thibaut Courtois of Real Madrid warms up prior to the Liga match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid CF at Camp Nou on December 18, 2019 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images) Getty Images Ratings: Spanish Super Cup final Dani Carvajal - 6 Atletico Madrid's Ghanaian midfielder Thomas Partey (R) attempts a tackle on Real Madrid's Spanish defender Dani Carvajal during the Spanish Super Cup final between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid on January 12, 2020, at the King Abdullah Sport City in the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP) (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images Ratings: Spanish Super Cup final Sergio Ramos - 7 JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA - JANUARY 11: Sergio Ramos of Real Madrid speaks to media during a press conference ahead of the Supercopa de Espana Final at Ittihad Club on January 11, 2020 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images) Getty Images Ratings: Spanish Super Cup final Raphael Varane - 6 BARCELONA, SPAIN - DECEMBER 18: Raphael Varane of Real Madrid warms up prior to the Liga match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid CF at Camp Nou on December 18, 2019 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images) Getty Images Ratings: Spanish Super Cup final Ferland Mendy - 7 GETAFE, SPAIN - JANUARY 04: Ferland Mendy of Real Madrid in action during the Liga match between Getafe CF and Real Madrid CF at Coliseum Alfonso Perez on January 04, 2020 in Getafe, Spain. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images) Getty Images Ratings: Spanish Super Cup final Toni Kroos - 7 JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA - JANUARY 12: Toni Kroos of Real Madrid in action during the Supercopa de Espana Final match between Real Madrid and Club Atletico de Madrid at King Abdullah Sports City on January 12, 2020 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images) Getty Images Ratings: Spanish Super Cup final Casemiro - 6 BRUGGE, BELGIUM - DECEMBER 11: Casemiro of Real Madrid in action during the UEFA Champions League group A match between Club Brugge KV and Real Madrid at Jan Breydel Stadium on December 11, 2019 in Brugge, Belgium. (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images) Getty Images Ratings: Spanish Super Cup final Federico Valverde - 7 JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA - JANUARY 12: Federico Valverde of Real Madrid reacts during the Supercopa de Espana Final match between Real Madrid and Club Atletico de Madrid at King Abdullah Sports City on January 12, 2020 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images) Getty Images Ratings: Spanish Super Cup final Luka Modric. - 7 JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA - JANUARY 12: Luka Modric of Real Madrid shoots during the Supercopa de Espana Final match between Real Madrid and Club Atletico de Madrid at King Abdullah Sports City on January 12, 2020 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images) Getty Images Ratings: Spanish Super Cup final Isco - 7 JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA - JANUARY 12: Isco of Real Madrid reacts during the Supercopa de Espana Final match between Real Madrid and Club Atletico de Madrid at King Abdullah Sports City on January 12, 2020 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images) Getty Images Ratings: Spanish Super Cup final Jovic - 6 JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA - JANUARY 12: Luka Jovic of Real Madrid looks on during the Supercopa de Espana Final match between Real Madrid and Club Atletico de Madrid at King Abdullah Sports City on January 12, 2020 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images) Getty Images Ratings: Spanish Super Cup final Jan Oblak - 7 Atletico Madrid's Slovenian goalkeeper Jan Oblak warms up ahead of the Spanish Super Cup final between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid on January 12, 2020, at the King Abdullah Sports City in the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP) (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images Ratings: Spanish Super Cup final Kieran Trippier - 6 MADRID, SPAIN - JANUARY 04: Kieran Trippier of Atletico de Madrid controls the ball during the Liga match between Club Atletico de Madrid and Levante UD at Wanda Metropolitano on January 04, 2020 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images) Getty Images Ratings: Spanish Super Cup final Felipe - 7 Atletico Madrid's Brazilian defender Felipe heads the ball to score a goal during the Spanish league football match between Club Atletico de Madrid and Levante UD at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium in Madrid on January 4, 2020. (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP) (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images Ratings: Spanish Super Cup final Jose Gimenez - 7 Atletico Madrid's Uruguayan defender Jose Gimenez (C-R) is closed down by Real Madrid's Spanish midfielder Isco (C-L) during the Spanish Super Cup final between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid on January 12, 2020, at the King Abdullah Sports City in the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP) (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images Ratings: Spanish Super Cup final Renan Lodi - 6 Real Madrid's Croatian midfielder Luka Modric (L) is marked by Atletico Madrid's Brazilian defender Renan Lodi during the Spanish Super Cup final between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid on January 12, 2020, at the King Abdullah Sports City in the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP) (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images Ratings: Spanish Super Cup final Saul Niguez - 7 Atletico Madrid's Spanish midfielder Saul Niguez (R) attempts a shot as he is marked by Real Madrid's Spanish defender Sergio Ramos (C) during the Spanish Super Cup final between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid on January 12, 2020, at the King Abdullah Sports City in the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP) (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images Ratings: Spanish Super Cup final Thomas Partey - 6 SEVILLE, SPAIN - DECEMBER 22: Thomas Teye Partey of Club Atletico de Madrid looks on during the Liga match between Real Betis Balompie and Club Atletico de Madrid at Estadio Benito Villamarin on December 22, 2019 in Seville, Spain. (Photo by Aitor Alcalde/Getty Images) Getty Images Ratings: Spanish Super Cup final Hector Herrera - 6 SEVILLE, SPAIN - DECEMBER 22: Hector Herrera of Club Atletico de Madrid looks on during the Liga match between Real Betis Balompie and Club Atletico de Madrid at Estadio Benito Villamarin on December 22, 2019 in Seville, Spain. (Photo by Aitor Alcalde/Getty Images) Getty Images Ratings: Spanish Super Cup final Angel Correa - 6 Atletico Madrid's Argentine forward Angel Correa controls the ball during a training session on the eve of the Spanish Super Cup final between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid on January 11, 2020, at the King Abdullah Sport City in the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah. (Photo by FAYEZ NURELDINE / AFP) (Photo by FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images Ratings: Spanish Super Cup final Joao Felix - 4 Atletico Madrid's Portuguese forward Joao Felix (L) is marked by Real Madrid's Brazilian midfielder Casemiro (R) during the Spanish Super Cup final between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid on January 12, 2020, at the King Abdullah Sports City in the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP) (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images Ratings: Spanish Super Cup final Alvaro Morata - 6 Atletico Madrid's Spanish forward Alvaro Morata celebrates his goal during the Spanish Super Cup semi final between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid on January 9, 2020, at the King Abdullah Sport City in the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah. - The winner will face Real Madrid in the final on January 12. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP) (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images

“I think a lot of people came to La Liga for Messi, and Cristiano Ronaldo when he was here,” he says. “But if you stay, and dig a little bit deeper, then you realise La Liga is about much more than just Barcelona and Madrid.”

An advantage of the league also being the international broadcaster is each stadium has a special flash zone for English speaking players to do post-game interviews not shown anywhere else.

“We’ve had Kieran Trippier quite a few times speaking with us after games, and he’s been delighted to express his joy at playing in La Liga,” Hanley says. “Gareth Bale has not said too much yet, but most clubs have a few English speakers – Marc Andre Ter Stegen at Barcelona, Thomas Partey at Atletico too, Martin Odegaard at Real Sociedad.”

La Liga have also dipped into the old Sky pool for their pundits roster – which includes Terry Gibson, Gaizka Mendieta, Albert Ferrer, Nayim, Gus Poyet and ex-Barcelona, Swansea and Brighton player Andrea Orlandi. Former regulars on Sky’s Revista de La Liga show Graham Hunter and Guillem Balague are on board as analysts and commentators.

LaLiga TV is already showing across the globe (LaLiga TV)

Balague will present a monthly ‘Talking Football’ show featuring long interviews with current and former Spanish footballers. First up this month is a chat with ex-Barcelona playmaker Xavi Hernandez from his current home in Qatar. Balague says that LaLiga TV viewers will get more in-depth analysis than is typical in most British football coverage.

“In England recently we’ve started to get more stories, tactics and trying to understand the game,” he told the Independent. “But the biggest stories are always personality and controversy. In Spain we think we know a lot about football, so we try to make it more about how the game has been played. You get deeper interviews, more inside stories, than in England, where they want to run whatever is controversial.”

Controversy is something which LaLigaTV will presumably be keen to avoid. This model allows the organisation to keep a close control of their own product’s quality – all production values, graphics, camera angles and replays can be standardised. The minimum number of cameras at a top flight stadium is 15, while novelties like SkyCam and 360 Replays aim to enhance the viewer experience. A new feature for 2020 is players appearing in studio for interview using a ‘hologram’ technology.

So much control also means La Liga themselves can decide how to deal with controversial incidents during a game. For example, viewers of December’s Clasico at the Camp Nou were not shown why play was stopped early in the half, with images of the yellow inflatable balls thrown onto the pitch by Catalan nationalist protesters withheld and commentators not mentioning what was going on.

That also raises concerns that pundits might go easy on underperforming teams or players who deserve a bollocking – but Barcelona-based Hunter says this is not the case.

“The first thing we were told was don’t bite your tongue, be honest, be accurate, with respect,” Hunter says. “And don’t be biased towards the big clubs all the time. We’re not looking for headlines or controversy – but you watch the ex-players open up when they are actually asked to explain what just happened in a game, based on their own knowledge and experience.”

Such engaging content is important for Tebas’s long-term aim to compete as much with Facebook or Game of Thrones as with the Premier League or the NFL. A key step in that was the hiring of former Netflix senior executive Joris Evers as La Liga’s chief communications officer two years ago.

Another example was the late 2017 launch of LaLigaSportsTV, which broadcasts classic La Liga games alongside action from more than 30 other sports including badminton, weightlifting and basketball for free online. This now has more than 410,000 registered users around the world.

La Liga also has its own sizeable in-house software development team working on its own business intelligence, machine learning and analytics software. Different bespoke programmes are used for tasks as diverse as allowing member clubs to analyse their opponents players and tactics, signalling to the authorities that a game may have been fixed, and even setting kick-off times each week based on historic audience figures and natural light at the stadiums.

Javier Tebas speaking at a conference in Madrid last year (Getty)

“With Tebas it is all vision and La Liga becoming like a tech company,” says Balague. “He has always been interested in this – he had the first fax in his village, and the first mobile phone. He was carrying around this huge suitcase with him. That is why there is this push, this openness to see what can be done.”

In the short term, this means that Sky’s 8.5million UK subscribers get free access to LaLigaTV for the last two weekends of January. First up is a suburban Madrid derby with Leganes hosting Getafe at 8pm on Friday 17, with Trippier’s Atletico Madrid visiting Eibar at 8pm Saturday.

The UK’s baffling 3pm Saturday blackout means Real Madrid v Sevilla must be shown on a delay. Sunday 19 January has five games back to back, starting with Valencia at Mallorca at 12pm UK time, up to Messi’s Barca hosting Granada at 8pm.

Highlights the following weekend include Scottish winger Oliver Burke’s Alaves hosting Santi Cazorla’s Villarreal, and Real Madrid visiting Real Valladolid, where former Bernabeu galactico Ronaldo is now club president.