[EXCLUSIVE] In-depth interview with LaLiga president Javier Tebas: from TV rights and piracy to AI and his attacks on the Premier League and Manchester City. The head of Spanish football discusses the future of the global game

First of all, congratulations, because LaLiga has secured a 9% increase in domestic audiovisual rights revenues for the 2027/28-2031/32 cycle, at a time when the entire industry is questioning the value of sports rights. What does this result tell us about how rights values will evolve in the future, and which leagues will benefit the most over the next decade?

That's right, it represents a 9% increase in our domestic market, in Spain. We have to consider that our domestic rights account for 60% of the €2 billion we generate globally.

We have grown for essentially two reasons. The first is our work against piracy.

For a year and a half now - it will be two years in December - we have been using dynamic blocking measures on the basis of a court order we obtained. This means that, during live matches, we block the IP addresses we identify as illegally broadcasting our content through their networks and websites.

The ability to carry out these blocks in real time, with all the necessary precautions, has led to a 60% reduction in illegal consumption of pirated content in Spain. And we are not putting forward this figure without evidence: we know exactly that, during league matches protected by these systems, traffic on telecommunications companies' networks associated with that illegal consumption has fallen by 60%.

The obvious result is an increase in pay-TV subscriptions and an increase in pay-TV audiences. Consequently, this leads to an increase in the value of our rights.

And what was the second factor? The second factor was the tremendous amount of work we have done with the clubs to significantly improve the viewing experience during live broadcasts.

I think we are living through a particular period. People have been talking about the importance of the experience for years, but today I believe audiences are increasingly engaged with live events, whether sport, football or concerts.

We are experiencing a period of significant growth, but we need to offer new experiences, or experiences that are better aligned with what audiences want. We don't need to reinvent the wheel.