Omar Da Fonseca leaves beIN Sports following loss of La Liga rights

Omar Da Fonseca left beIN Sports this summer to join Disney+, which acquired La Liga broadcasting rights alongside DAZN. The departure of the Argentine commentator, a fixture at the Franco-Qatari channel, was confirmed by Florent Houzot, director of channels, programming and editorial at beIN Sports France, during the presentation of the new season.

“Omar’s departure is a consequence of losing La Liga. It was his decision to leave beIN Sports. A decision we respect, there’s no problem,” Houzot said. However, he clarified that the former footballer could have stayed: “He obviously had, and he knows it, his full place at beIN this season because beIN continues to have a huge amount of football competitions, notably La Liga, with very strong audiences on our channels in the Middle East in French. Nevertheless, he found himself in a situation where he had to make a choice.”

When asked about the impact of this departure on the channel, Houzot sought to downplay it, relying on the strength of the subscriber base. “As I often tell my teams, the star at beIN is the competition and the rights. Our subscribers and sports fans subscribe to beIN for a competition, for several competitions or for the overall offering,” he stated. He recalled that the channel had gone through three seasons without Ligue 1 without losing subscribers, citing a subscriber base estimated at 2.5 million according to figures provided by Maxime Saada, head of Canal+, which handles distribution.

To offset the loss of La Liga in France, beIN Sports is banking notably on the return of EuroLeague basketball and on diversifying its offering. “I often say that a sports channel is an accumulation of niches and fans,” Houzot concluded.