LaLiga has today (Friday) revealed that the top two divisions of Spanish football will be rebranded after confirming that it will not seek a title sponsor for the 2016-17 season.
LaLiga and LaLiga2 will be the official names of the competitions from today, the day after the conclusion of a title sponsorship deal with BBVA.
The banking group has been a LaLiga partner since the 2006-07 season when the second tier was rebranded as the Liga BBVA. Two years later, the sponsorship agreement was extended, with the top flight renamed the Liga BBVA, while Liga Adelante became the official name for the second division. These versions remained until the end of the 2015-16 campaign.
BBVA was the sponsor for LaLiga for 10 seasons. However, the company confirmed in September that the 2015-16 season would be its last as title sponsor of the Liga and the Liga Adelante.
Speaking in May, LaLiga president Javier Tebas suggested the top two divisions of Spanish football may adopt a similar sponsorship model to the one introduced by the English Premier League.
The Premier League announced in February that it would replace its title sponsorship model with a seven-sponsor structure and Tebas confirmed that LaLiga had been talking with a “number of brands” as it sought to replace BBVA.
Tebas said in May that “there may not be one” replacement for BBVA, adding: “We can have another three years with a title sponsor, but this is not a rule and instead we could have five sponsors of another level.” Tebas revealed that, “we’re talking with a number of brands internationally to pursue a different strategy.”
In a statement issued today, LaLiga said: “The strategic decision not to have a ‘title sponsor’ is a way for LaLiga to strengthen their commitment to their own brand by linking it to both divisions, helping to further extend the global reach of the best football in the world.”