Sainz Jr. Ferrari deal sparks battle for Spanish TV rights

Sainz Jr. at Ferrari has Spanish fans salivating

(GMM) Spanish broadcasters are shaping up to fight over the Formula 1 television rights for 2021 and beyond.

Movistar, owned by Telefonica, is the current broadcaster in Spain, but that contract is running out this year.

And El Periodico newspaper claims that Dazn, a British sports streaming broadcaster that operates within Spain, wants to secure the next contract.

"Our intention is to round off a great motorsport package including MotoGP, superbikes, the WRC, endurance and Dakar. F1 closes the circle and would give much more value to the whole package," a source close to Dazn said.

But a Telefonica spokesman insisted that Movistar wants to keep the deal.

"We have been with F1 since 2014 and our intention is to continue," he said.

"The health crisis may force us to review the conditions, but naturally the arrival of Carlos Sainz at Ferrari adds more interest to Formula 1 within Spain."

El Periodico claims that Sainz's arrival at Ferrari could ramp up the value of the next Spanish TV deal from EUR 65 million to as much as 100m.

"It is logical to think that Formula 1 will have much more interest in Spain if there is a Spaniard who is on the podium every Sunday and ready to win races," the Dazn source admitted.

"(MotoGP promoter) Dorna has already let us know that they would be delighted to share a platform with F1. They are two specialties that feed each other."