Spain’s LaLiga and France’s Ligue 1 were ‘dark’ in India over the weekend after the leagues cut their signal to Galaxy Racer (GXR) due to non-payment, SportBusiness understands.
Last year, LaLiga signed a six-year deal with media company GXR covering 2024-25 to 2029-30 for exclusive media rights in the Indian subcontinent, an agreement which has now run into serious issues in just its first season.
France’s Professional Football League (LFP) sold Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 rights to GXR for a minimum of four seasons, from 2024-25 to 2027-28. The deal was brokered by the Iris Sport Media agency, which continues to manage the agreement.
LaLiga’s coverage stopped over the weekend but Ligue 1 has not had coverage in India for two weeks.
In September, the Dubai-based GXR, which to date has primarily been involved in esports and gaming, announced that it had secured broadcast rights to Italy’s Serie A as well as LaLiga and Ligue 1. Coverage of Serie A remained available on the GXR website over the weekend.
The deals, first reported to be close to completion by SportBusiness in July, surprised media companies in India due to GXR’s lack of track record as a broadcaster in the market.
On Friday, the company’s @GXR_World handle on X posted: “Hey GXR fans, unfortunately, due to technical issues, we won’t be streaming LALIGA matches this weekend. We’re working on resolving this as quickly as possible to bring you back the action you love! Thank you for your patience and support.”
SportBusiness understands that the leagues and GXR are seeking a solution to the payment issues.
Earlier in the season, GXR cited technical problems in its LaLiga coverage and was unable to stream some matches. This was the result of genuine technical issues rather than related to payment.
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The live rights to LaLiga and Ligue 1 matches were being showcased through GXR’s free-to-view website, which does not require registration, and app.
From 2021-22 to 2023-24, rights to LaLiga, Ligue 1 and Serie A were all held by media group Viacom18 in agreements spanning the Indian subcontinent.
GXR’s LaLiga deal was not the first collaboration between the league and the organisation.
In 2022, LaLiga and GXR formed a 15-year joint venture designed to transform LaLiga’s presence in the Middle East and North Africa, plus the Indian subcontinent.
However, this relationship only covers sponsorship and partnerships, and not media rights brokering. This differentiates it from some of LaLiga’s other joint ventures, notably its agreement with Relevent Sports Group covering North America.
Values of rights to international football leagues have generally declined in India over recent cycles. Rights-holders have struggled to generate strong competition among broadcasters for all but major cricket properties as well as top-tier properties with broad global appeal, such as the Premier League.
SportBusiness Media analysis of the LaLiga-GXR deal, including the fee, can be read here.
GXR business model
Two weeks into the 2024-25 LaLiga season, GXR established GXR World Sports & Entertainment in India, the company responsible for running the gxr.world website which hosts streams of LaLiga and Ligue 1 matches.
GXR does not currently operate a subscription model.
Its long-term monetisation plan involves the incorporation of real money fantasy gaming into its broadcast platform, a revenue-generating engagement tool which has captured much of the sports-watching youth of India. Betting is illegal in the country but spending money on fantasy sports is popular.
At present, it is understood GXR’s technical infrastructure is not yet ready to incorporate these features. However, its long-term deal with LaLiga signalled its intentions.
Some local sources have expressed scepticism over GXR’s business model, however, and said that emulating fantasy gaming behemoth Dream11, which owns FanCode, would be a tall order.
GXR has previously claimed it has over 100 content creators, over 500 million followers, and generates over 2.5 billion monthly views. The company was founded in 2019 by Paul Roy.
Its five main verticals are: competitive esports teams, content creators, content and events production, consumer goods, as well as a record label, GXR Records.
Contacted by SportBusiness, GXR is yet to respond to a request for further comment.