LONDON - Eleven Sports, a global broadcaster launching two new channels in Britain, will show one Spanish and one Italian top flight soccer match a week live and for free on Facebook FB.O , including Cristiano Ronaldo's debut for Juventus.
Eleven Sports, led by the former head of TV at BT, Marc Watson, has won the rights to show La Liga and Serie A in Britain and Ireland, as well as other sports, taking on Sky and BT in the race for viewers.
The group said that as part of its push into Britain and Ireland it had made Facebook its free-to-air partner to show matches including the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus and Napoli.
The vast majority of Eleven's programming will be available on an app or online for 5.99 pounds ($7.75) per month, while the group is also in talks with other TV platforms.
Tech groups have stepped up their focus on live-streaming sports in a bid to keep young viewers on their platforms.
Facebook has been in talks to show English Premier League matches in parts of Asia, according to media reports, while Amazon has won rights to show 20 English Premier League matches a season from 2019 in Britain, giving it a foothold in the most watched sports league in the world.
($1 = 0.7732 pounds)
(Reporting by Kate Holton) ((kate.holton@thomsonreuters.com; 0044 207 542 8560; Reuters Messaging: kate.holton.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
