Spanish soccer league battles Cloudflare over piracy, says US company ignores illegal content
The Associated Press reports that LaLiga has escalated its fight against illegal streaming by publicly targeting Cloudflare, the US internet infrastructure firm whose content delivery network is widely used across the web. LaLiga says it employs around 50 analysts who monitor websites, social media, IPTV services, and streaming portals during matches, then submit takedown and blocking requests through intermediaries. It argues Cloudflare is not doing enough to stop piracy and claims a significant share of LaLiga piracy in Spain is distributed using Cloudflare infrastructure. The league says protecting broadcasts is central to its business, noting it recently sold domestic audiovisual rights worth more than 6 billion euros through the 2032 season.
Cloudflare rejects the accusation and says LaLiga’s approach causes overblocking that cuts off access to many lawful websites during match time. The article also notes that Italy’s communications regulator issued Cloudflare a 14 million euro fine linked to alleged failure to address illegal content distribution, which Cloudflare denied, and that Serie A praised. Both LaLiga and Cloudflare have sought support from governments and regulators, including outreach to the European Commission and to the US Trade Representative, with Cloudflare arguing some foreign measures function as digital trade barriers.
