- Mediapro co-founder Tatxo Benet stepped down last year
- Company lost domestic LaLiga contract in 2025
- Firm says it has adapted to current arrangement
Mediapro hopes its imminent rebrand to ‘Imagina’ will draw a line under a challenging few years for the company and drive awareness of its service portfolio beyond production and distribution.
The Barcelona-based agency was formed in 1994, with the company becoming a key partner for Spanish soccer’s LaLiga both domestically and internationally. It also has a strong presence in various overseas markets, particularly in the Spanish-speaking world.
However, Mediapro lost the contract to produce and distribute LaLiga matches last year and is well remembered for its disastrous domestic rights deal with Ligue 1 – a saga from which the French league is still recovering after the contract ended in its first year.
Former chief executive and co-founder Tatxo Benet stepped down from his position last October, a departure which means that none of Mediapro’s three founding co-partners remain with the company. Jaume Roures departed in 2023, while Gerard Romy left in 2016.
Now, under the leadership of Carlos Nunez, the company has decided it is time for a refresh. It used a session at the Sportel sports business conference in Monaco to stress that a tumultuous period is behind it and to remind the industry of its offering.
The refresh, Mediapro says, reflects that it will now work “in horizontal instead of verticals”, with every department contributing to one integrated offer.
“We know that [the] sports media landscape has changed, and this is why we’re evolving,” said Daniel Chiara, head of commercial and rights at Mediapro. “You know, rights holders today are building more capabilities in house. We understand this. We understand that everybody is understanding how they can better exploit their rights. So, what we want to do is to collaborate.
“The traditional rights models that we’ve been working [with] for many, many, many years – we believe that they don’t work anymore.
“In an age [where] distribution is fragmented, we can [help reach] different audiences and platforms and [identify] the different ways to monetise.”
Chiara made specific reference to Mediapro’s experience in producing entertainment programming and films, as well as operating television stations and OTT services as examples of how it can “produce just about anything”.
In addition, the company also has a social first unit and a virtual advertising arm. He also pointed out the firm’s international offices as evidence it could help rights holders expand globally.
The name ‘Imagina’ was used by Mediapro’s former parent company following the 2005 merger with Globomedia. When asked by SportsPro whether the firm felt the rebrand was necessary to distance itself from events of the previous few years, head of strategy and operations Xavi Perez suggested it was not the only factor.
“Mediapro had the same leadership since it was born [in] 1994,” Perez said. “So I think the brand and everything was really associated as well [with] the leadership. I think it makes sense to launch a new brand. It’s also part of showing the new leadership and the new focus and everything. So I think it was maybe not necessary, but something that helps us tell the story.”
Chiara added: “It has been, I wouldn’t say [a] challenging year, but it has been a lot of reworking, a lot of restructuring. Today, we’re finally in a place that we can go into a rights holder, or to a meeting with a rights holder, to a tender, knowing exactly how we can help, with a concise business plan, and telling them exactly how we can add to it properly.
“I don’t think that there is one company that can do what we can do in terms of compiling everything into one space.”
Mediapro cited its work with Uefa, Comnebol and others as examples of its unified portfolio in action. It has also noted opportunities in emerging and women’s sports as a potential source of growth. However, it is the firm’s now-contracted relationship with LaLiga for which it is best known.
Mediapro remains LaLiga’s international audiovisual agency until the end of the 2028/29 season, tasked with selling the league’s rights overseas. That contract was extended in 2023, but excluded the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and North America, where LaLiga already had regional sales partners.
Relevent manages LaLiga’s rights in the latter, while Bahrain-based Strive replaced troubled Galaxy Racer (GXR) as partner in a MENA joint venture last year. LaLiga has also formed the ‘Peak’ joint venture with Ocho Sport.
Mediapro reacted angrily to losing the production contract to HBS, arguing its offer was more competitive and questioned its rival’s ability to deliver. However, it later dropped its legal challenge and spoke in conciliatory terms in Monaco.
“I don’t think we need any guarantees,” said Chiara when asked about whether it had received any assurances that the relationship would continue at the end of its current contract.
“I mean, we’re LaLiga’s agency [through] to 2029. Of course, there is a different dynamic from years past that we have embraced, and it’s my responsibility … to do what we were hired to do.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen after 2029. I don’t think it’s a [lost cause]. It’s something that we’re working towards every day, bringing value to the brand as well. I think that, of course, there was a rocky time, and, you know, Peak does exist.
“It’s something that is there … I think it’s [more] a collaboration, and it has been a very positive collaboration since I stepped into this role.”
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