LeTV Sports secures football rights from MP & Silva agent

LeTV Sports has signed a strategic collaboration with the MP & Silva agency under which the sports-rights venture, which is operated by Chinese IPTV operator LeTV, has acquired rights for a number of properties in China.

LeTV Sports has secured rights for football’s top-tier Italian Serie A, French Ligue 1 and Belgian Pro League plus English football’s FA Cup, Football League Championship and Capital One Cup. The deal also includes rights to the Scottish Professional Football League, Brazil national team global tour football matches, England national football teams and the recently-concluded 2015 Copa America national team tournament.

MP & Silva said that the “majority” of the rights had been acquired on an exclusive basis, with the agreement giving LeTV Sports more than 1,800 hours of live football coverage per season in China.

The strategic partnership also includes scope for developing joint projects in the future. These projects are currently under discussion.

The collaboration between LeTV Sports and MP & Silva began in 2012, when the two companies signed a non-exclusive deal over three seasons for rights to Serie A and Ligue 1 football.

Yunfeng Capital, co-founded by Alibaba group chairman Jack Ma, and Wanda investment were recently confirmed as investors behind the digital media company.