After "several years in which the virtual absence of TV offers was habitual" for the Spanish Basketball League (ACB), this summer there is a "different setting, in which several private TV operators have shown interest in the rights to carry the ACB," according to José Manuel Puertas of LIBERTAD DIGITAL. Though it currently has one more year on its contract with TVE, the ACB is "at the moment not ruling out any possibility." One of the groups that has entered talks "with the most force is Discovery, which would offer games on free-TV through Discovery Max, and on pay-TV through Eurosport." Discovery "would mean an ambitious bet on the part of the ACB, which is usually conservative on TV matters." Movistar Plus (the fruit of Telefónica's acquisition of Canal Plus) currently "has the advantage, with it possible that the private operator could co-exist with TVE, at least for the year remaining on its current contract with the ACB." In "any case," execs at ACB HQ "are not setting a deadline to reach a TV agreement for the upcoming seasons" (LIBERTAD DIGITAL, 7/31).
