La Liga Expected To Name Spain's Banco Santander Title Sponsor

After being linked to BBVA for the last 10 years, La Liga's next title sponsor will be Banco Santander "if there are no last-minute changes," according to Marco & Cabeza of EL CONFIDENCIAL. Sources said that the agreement between La Liga President Javier Tebas and Banco Santander Chair Ana Botín "is pending only a signature." This comes "after a fight with Samsung and an airline from the Persian Gulf." The official designation will be made on Thursday by Tebas, "who preferred a local sponsor, but with global recognition, to give its name to La Liga" -- just as BBVA has done since '06, first as the sponsor of the second division and since '08 as the sponsor of La Liga. Banco Santander has a "wide presence in Europe -- the U.K., principally, in addition to Germany and Poland -- and in Latin America, with an extensive network of offices in Brazil, Mexico, Chile and Argentina, among others." For La Liga, Banco Santander's int'l brand "is vital because 50% of its audience comes from outside Spain" (EL CONFIDENCIAL, 7/19).