ESPN’s 2021 move to secure U.S. broadcast rights to Spain’s LaLiga for eight years has drawn significant praise. But the deal has been largely streaming-focused, with only a handful of matches airing on linear TV.
That’s about to change. On Monday, ESPN announced that the May 11 El Clásico — the name now used for any matchup between Real Madrid and Barcelona — will be the first LaLiga El Clásico to air on linear television since April 2021. That was back when beIN Sports held the rights, prior to ESPN’s deal that began that August.
May 11, #FCBarcelona vs #RealMadrid will be the 1st LALIGA #ElClásico match on ESPN since the #LALIGA-ESPN agreement in Aug. ’21
Coverage will also be offered on ESPN Deportes & ESPN+ in English & Spanish
More: https://t.co/sMjsPaggpk pic.twitter.com/QN18vFcDDl
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) April 14, 2025
Here’s more from ESPN’s release.
Today, ESPN announced that the 261st FC Barcelona-Real Madrid ElClásico will air on ESPN, Sunday, May 11, as a simulcast of the ESPN+ live stream of the game. The match action will start at 10:15 a.m. ET across ESPN, ESPN+, in English and Spanish, and ESPN Deportes.
The May 11 LALIGA ElClásico on ESPN marks the first time since the beginning of ESPN’s eighth-year media rights agreement in 2021 that this event will air on an ESPN English-language television network. Combined, the reach of ESPN platforms – ESPN+ (English and Spanish), ESPN Deportes, and ESPN – carrying the match provides unprecedented access in the U.S. to experience one of the most intense rivalries in soccer with a league title at stake.
In addition, ESPN plans its most comprehensive coverage of any match from LALIGA, Copa del Rey (Spanish Cup) or Supercopa de España, with studio shows in English and Spanish originating from Barcelona beginning Thursday, May 8. (Details will be announced later).
The release notes that since ESPN’s LaLiga deal began in August 2021, the network has aired 12 El Clásico matchups across LaLiga, Copa del Rey, and Supercopa de España competitions (having already held rights to the latter two). But ESPN is really going all in on this one, with what it’s calling the “most comprehensive coverage” — a move highlighted by the airing of this May 11 El Clásico on linear TV, which is a significant shift.
There’s always been debate over where sports should air. Broadcast TV offers the widest potential reach. Meanwhile, cable networks and streaming services can monetize even smaller audiences through per-subscriber fees (from cable/satellite companies or virtual multichannel distributors) or individual subscriptions. Soccer, in particular, has embraced streaming due to its younger demographic, with ESPN+ (Disney), Paramount+ (CBS), and Max (TNT Sports) all heavily involved in these deals.
With that in mind, it’s notable that a LaLiga El Clásico — featuring star players like Kylian Mbappé, Luka Modrić, Lamine Yamal, and Robert Lewandowski — will air on linear TV. This move helps address the main criticism of ESPN’s LaLiga deal. The previous beIN Sports deal faced its own challenges due to limited distribution, ultimately leading LaLiga to buy back the rights early and sell them to ESPN. While ESPN+ is a streaming service, it’s more widely accessible than beIN’s linear channel, which supports the claim from LaLiga officials that the ESPN deal has “broadened the audience massively for us.”
However, while ESPN+ (24.9 million subscribers at the end of Q1 2025) significantly outpaces beIN (8.9 million Nielsen-estimated English-language subscribers as of December 2023), it still falls short of linear ESPN’s reach, which stands at approximately 68.8 million as of December 2024. So moving this El Clásico to ESPN’s linear network is a significant step, likely resulting in a much larger viewership. The “most comprehensive coverage” approach will also likely draw further attention. It’ll be interesting to see the final audience numbers, but no doubt this decision will provide a major access boost.
