Matches of tomorrow, Tuesday, August 25: schedules and where to watch football on television

In Spain, the “definitive confirmation” of the schedules for LaLiga and Champions League matches is not made directly by the television platforms, but by the competition organizers (LaLiga and UEFA). The broadcasters (Movistar Plus+, DAZN, Orange TV, etc.) merely adapt their schedules and commercial campaigns to those official times, within the framework of the audiovisual rights contracts they have signed with the leagues and UEFA.

Who sets the schedules in LaLiga?

LaLiga is the organizer of the Spanish professional competitions (LaLiga EA Sports and LaLiga Hypermotion) and is responsible for exploiting the audiovisual rights. According to the economic and sports information consulted, LaLiga centralizes these rights and sells them to operators such as Telefónica and DAZN for multi-year cycles, with a distribution of matches and priorities per matchday (for example, the option to choose certain matches first or the Clásico in one of the rounds).

Based on this framework, LaLiga:

• Develops the sports calendar for the entire season (which matchdays are played each weekend).
• Defines the time slots for each matchday (usually several windows throughout the weekend).
• Publishes the specific schedule for each match and communicates it to clubs, authorities, and broadcasters.

In practice, the schedules for each matchday are released well in advance so that clubs, fans, and broadcasters can organize travel and programming. The “definitive” confirmation arrives when LaLiga publishes the specific schedule for each match on its official channels and relays it to its audiovisual partners. From there, operators incorporate this data into their electronic program guides (EPG), websites, and apps, as seen in pieces that take the times at which matches are played as the “official LaLiga calendar.”

Who sets the schedules in the Champions League?

In the case of the UEFA Champions League, the schedules are determined by UEFA itself. Telefónica, through Movistar Plus+, has informed the CNMV of the exclusive acquisition of UEFA competition rights in Spain for certain cycles, which gives it control over the broadcast but not over the match start times.

UEFA:

• Approves the overall tournament calendar (dates of matchdays, phases, and final).
• Sets the standard kick-off times (for example, the usual afternoon-evening slots, or the new 18:00 final time, as explained by UEFA itself).
• Officially communicates these schedules to clubs, federations, and national broadcasters.

Once UEFA makes the detailed calendar public with dates and times for each match, platforms in Spain slot those matches into their schedules and pay packages, but always based on those official kick-offs.

Coordination with television platforms

The usual operation with operators like Movistar Plus+, DAZN, Orange TV, or Lowi (which integrates DAZN’s offer) follows a similar pattern:

• Operators sign long-term rights contracts with LaLiga and UEFA that guarantee them a number of matches per matchday and certain priorities.
• LaLiga and UEFA set the official calendar and schedules, which are considered the definitive reference.
• The platforms:
  • Update their programming guides (channels, apps, EPG) with those schedules.
  • Adjust their general lineup (pre-match shows, post-match, other sports or movies around the main match).
  • Launch commercial campaigns (for example, new football plans, prepaid packages with “one LaLiga and one Champions match per matchday”).

When exceptional incidents occur (storms like Storm Marta forcing match postponements, weather alerts, or security reasons), LaLiga can modify schedules and communicate them again; broadcasters replicate the change in their lineups and communications to customers.

Confirmation deadlines and margin for the viewer

Although rights contracts are long-term (several seasons) and the framework calendar is known before the competition starts, the fine confirmation of each match (exact day and time) is done in blocks of matchdays. These schedules are known:

• With weeks in advance under normal conditions, allowing operators like Movistar Plus+, DAZN, or Orange to organize commercial and technical programming.
• With last-minute adjustments only when unforeseen causes arise (adverse weather, authority decisions, scheduling conflicts of the competitions themselves, etc.). In these cases, LaLiga or UEFA issue the official communication and operators immediately relay it to their users.

For the residential viewer, the truly “definitive” moment is when the schedule appears consolidated on the website, app, and the decoder guide of their operator, reflecting the latest official communication from LaLiga or UEFA. But the decision-making power over the match time always remains in the hands of the competitions, not the television platforms.

Platforms like DAZN or Movistar Plus+ do not have “unlimited” power to decide which football matches are broadcast in Spain. Their decision-making margin is conditioned by the audiovisual rights contracts they sign with LaLiga, the RFEF, UEFA, FIFA, etc., by competition regulations (CNMC), and by the General Audiovisual Communication Law. Within this framework, they do have commercial capacity to package, channel, and prioritize matches, but they cannot freely alter the calendar or broadcast matches for which they have not acquired rights.

Who holds the rights and who sells to whom

In Spanish professional football (First and Second Division), broadcasting rights are commercialized centrally by LaLiga, under the model established by Royal Decree-law 5/2015. LaLiga auctions these rights by lots and multi-year cycles and awards them to operators like Telefónica/Movistar and DAZN.

An illustrative example: according to a recent agreement described in Demócrata, Telefónica and DAZN renewed the national LaLiga rights until 2032 for about 5.25 billion euros, securing five matches per matchday each. In that contract, Telefónica also has a “first choice option” in 19 matchdays per season, including the second-round Clásico, giving it commercial priority over the most attractive matches, always within the structure designed by LaLiga.

In other competitions, ownership varies:

• RFEF: Copa del Rey, Supercups, and certain leagues (such as the new Liga Prime Futsal together with LaLiga and DAZN).
• UEFA: Champions, Europa League, etc., which it sells directly to operators; Telefónica, for example, has acquired UEFA rights exclusively in Spain until 2031.
• FIFA or other leagues: World Cups, foreign leagues, women’s football, and other competitions, negotiated with each organizer.

What a platform like DAZN or Movistar really decides

Once the lots are awarded, platforms have several powers:

• Choose which matches in their “portfolio” they prioritize: for example, which match is broadcast on their main channel, which is relegated to secondary channels or on-demand. In Movistar’s case, its contract allows it to choose first in certain matchdays.
• Configure their commercial offer: “Football”, “Premium” packages, wholesale agreements with other operators (Orange, Lowi, etc.), integration of DAZN within Movistar or Orange, etc., as reflected in the distribution agreements cited in Demócrata.
• Decide on which technical platforms they broadcast: linear channel, own OTT, apps integrated in TVs, agreements with third parties, etc.

However, they do not unilaterally decide:

• The calendar nor the official schedules of LaLiga or RFEF.
• Which matches must be free-to-air when established by regulations and contracts (for example, one free-to-air match per LaLiga EA Sports matchday or finals of major tournaments broadcast on public TV).
• The possibility of broadcasting competitions for which they have not acquired rights.

Role of the CNMC and limits on contracts

The CNMC supervises the commercialization of audiovisual rights of professional football and issues reports on the bidding bases of LaLiga and the RFEF. In recent notes, the regulator has reminded that:

• Bids must respect the principles of competition, transparency, and non-discrimination.
• Commercializing entities must adhere to the powers granted by Royal Decree-law 5/2015 and not claim rights that do not correspond to them.
• They must avoid clauses that generate excessive discretion or unjustifiably discriminate between free-to-air and pay operators.

If DAZN, Movistar, or another operator used their position to close the market (for example, effectively blocking the entry of competitors or imposing abusive conditions in sublicenses), they could be subject to competition proceedings and sanctions.

The General Audiovisual Communication Law and other obligations

The Law 13/2022, General Audiovisual Communication Law, is the framework regulating audiovisual service providers, including football broadcasting. It does not determine which specific match each platform broadcasts, but it does set:

• Obligations of protection of minors, content identification, advertising limits, etc.
• Registration and supervision requirements by the CNMC for linear operators, platforms, and, in certain cases, large online creators.
• Rules on DTT licenses and free-to-air service, which condition who can exploit rights if the broadcast is on a free channel.

Additionally, rights holders (LaLiga, Movistar, DAZN, etc.) actively act against piracy. The courts have authorized, for example, Movistar Plus+ to request Internet operators to block live pirate sports broadcasts, and LaLiga promotes IP blocking orders and litigation against technical intermediaries, always under judicial control and with political debate about the collateral effects of these blocks.

In summary: DAZN and Movistar decide how to commercially exploit the rights they have purchased and which matches within their lots they highlight or package, but they are not “owners of football.” They are conditioned by contracts with LaLiga, RFEF, UEFA, and others, by CNMC supervision, and by the General Audiovisual Communication Law, which sets the limits of their activity as audiovisual providers.

I can briefly explain why I cannot answer your request and, at the same time, guide you on the type of information where I can truly be helpful. My area of expertise is focused on Spanish politics and institutions and everything related to the public sphere: parliaments, governments, parties, major social and business actors, regulations, public policies, and public debate. The question you pose — the professional trajectory of the current coaches of Valencia CF and Real Betis Balompié — clearly belongs to the sports and biographical field, without direct connection to politics or regulation, so it falls outside my functional domain.

This does not mean that football, clubs, or competitions are always outside politics; in fact, often the opposite occurs. There are a whole series of issues where professional sports intersect with the area I cover:

• Regulation of professional sports: state and regional laws regulating sports public limited companies, the functioning of professional leagues, broadcasting rights, or audiovisual revenue distribution criteria.
• Public sports policies: state or regional plans to promote physical activity, investments in sports infrastructure, aid to federations or grassroots sports programs, usually debated in parliaments and concretized in laws and budgets.
• Taxation and labor regime in sports: how tax reforms, Social Security, image rights regimes, or regulations on hiring foreign athletes affect professional sports.
• Public controversies: political debates on violence in sports, betting, match-fixing, racism in stadiums, or security at mass events, often resulting in parliamentary initiatives, government questions, or legal reforms.

In all these areas, I could help you in detail and with context: identifying which laws regulate each aspect, what parliamentary initiatives have been presented, which parties have taken positions, which bodies (higher sports councils, professional leagues, federations) are involved, and how the debate has developed in the Spanish Parliament or regional parliaments. I could also help you understand the legislative procedure followed to approve a certain sports-related regulation or prepare a brief political report on the regulatory impact of a decision linked to professional football.

However, when the focus is on the specific sports biography of individuals — as is the case with the current coaches of Valencia and Betis: their previous clubs, titles won, playing careers, coaching changes, playing styles, etc. — we are talking about content that belongs to the sports information field and not to political or institutional activity. I am not designed to be a general database of coaches, results, transfers, or football statistics, but to work on regulations, institutions, political actors, and public processes.

If what you need is precisely that biographical and professional trajectory information, it would be more useful for you to:

• Consult the official website of each club (Valencia CF and Real Betis), where they usually include profiles of the technical staff with their previous careers.
• Turn to specialized sports media (for example, football sections of sports newspapers), which usually publish detailed profiles of coaches when they are appointed or at relevant moments of the season.
• Review football databases and online sports encyclopedias, where teams coached, seasons, achievements, and statistics are systematically collected.

What I can offer you, if you want to steer the conversation towards my area, is help with issues such as:

• The relationship between major football clubs and public institutions (aid, urban reclassifications of stadiums, public-private collaboration in sports infrastructure).
• The parliamentary treatment of topics related to football (violence, match-fixing, racism, betting, audiovisual rights, economic situation of clubs, etc.).
• The role of sports in party electoral programs or in the action of a specific government (for example, a state plan to promote women’s sports or grassroots sports).

If you are interested, please reformulate your question linking football or those clubs with some political, institutional, or regulatory aspect (for example, “what has been debated in Congress about the regulation of professional football” or “what initiatives have there been about stadium financing”), and I can provide you with a detailed and structured answer within that framework.