Canal+ and LaLiga have signed an anti-piracy agreement covering nearly 50 countries, in what the two organisations describe as a partnership of unprecedented scale against illegal streaming of Spanish football.
The alliance spans Europe, sub-Saharan Africa and Haiti, the markets in which Canal+ distributes LaLiga content. The two will share intelligence, coordinate enforcement strategies, combine their anti-piracy technology and pursue joint investigations and lobbying.
"Piracy is one of the greatest challenges facing the future of sports, one that no organisation can tackle this problem alone," said LaLiga president Javier Tebas, who spoke of protecting "the value of our competitions".
Canal+ chief executive Maxime Saada said: "The unprecedented scale of this partnership reflects the strategic importance CANAL+ attaches to the fight against content piracy."
The financial case is set out in some detail. LaLiga's audiovisual revenue fell 5.2% to 1.43 billion euros in 2024/25, while commercial revenue rose to 1.58 billion euros and overtook it as the clubs' primary income source. Canal+ estimates that piracy wipes out about 1.5 billion euros of value in France each year, and costs the French state several hundred million euros in annual tax revenue.
Neither side is new to enforcement. Earlier in 2026 LaLiga secured court orders requiring NordVPN and ProtonVPN to assist in blocking IP addresses linked to illegal streams in Spain.
The figure to hold on to is the one in the announcement itself: nearly 50 countries.
Every other number here is exact. Audiovisual revenue fell 5.2%, to 1.43 billion euros. Commercial revenue reached 1.58 billion. France loses an estimated 1.5 billion a year and the state a few hundred million in tax. The jurisdiction, alone, is approximate.
This is an unusual position for an enforcement body to occupy. The agreement covers a territory that has not been enumerated, which means that somewhere along its edge there is a country the partnership is not certain it is operating in.
The composition is also worth noting: Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, and Haiti. Two of those are regions containing dozens of sovereign states. The third is one island. A treaty that requires a named exception has stopped describing an area and started reading out a list, and a list is the one thing that can always be counted.
It has not been counted. The Department of Unnecessary Research has offered to do so at no charge, and awaits instructions on the treatment of the fraction. Until then, Spanish football is protected across approximately fifty sovereign jurisdictions, which is approximately the same as fifty, and exactly the same as not knowing.