It's a sentence I didn't expect to ever write but Disney Plus — the House of Mouse's Star Wars and Marvel streaming service — is arguably now the best streaming service for sports fans, at least in the UK, thanks in part to recent footie announcements.
Disney Plus has announced that starting on Saturday, August 16, it's set to air LALIGA matches each Saturday. This'll let you watch games from some of the world's best clubs including Real Madrid and FC Barcelona (LALIGA, for those who don't know, is the Spanish football league).
A team of hosts and commentators has been assembled from ESPN (a US sports broadcaster which Disney owns) as well as some English stars and presenters.
Disney Plus won't let you watch every LALIGA game — they're spread across Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays each week — and it hasn't actually confirmed whether it'll show every Saturday-night match or not. But unlike many international sports, Spain is only an hour out from the UK so the matches aren't at an unreasonable hour.
This new Disney Plus perk is available to anyone who subscribers to the streamer. The Disney Plus price starts at £4.99 making it the cheapest streaming service for live sports, undercutting Prime Video, Apple TV Plus MLS, Sky Sports, DAZN and Discovery Plus (which hosts TNT Sports) by a dramatic margin. The only rival is Netflix which costs the same but that only shows WWE which many would argue isn't a sport (and admittedly the odd boxing and golf but these are few and far between).
Sports streaming tends to be an expensive affair, with live sports typically shown by expensive premium streamers (at least the ones that aren't on the 'free' broadcasters) so Disney Plus' push into football is welcome news.
LALIGA alone wouldn't necessarily make Disney Plus your one-stop shop for football streaming but this follows recent news that Disney Plus will air the UEFA Women's Champions League from Tuesday, October 7.
Since Disney Plus has picked up the rights not just for one year but for several for both of these championships (LALIGA for three years, WCL until 2029/30) it shows a committment to football that may well grow. While it's unlikely that Premier League games will move to the inexpensive streamer we could see more international leagues and championships in the future.
And if you subscribe to Disney Plus for its various library and original TV shows and movies, it's a lovely extra perk that'll let you watch some of the best football clubs around right now.
Live in the US? This Disney Plus perk isn't available to you, but a massive ESPN Plus shuffle has changed the game for sports streaming.
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