LaLiga Blocks 500-1,000 IPs per Match, Disrupting 554,000 Legitimate Domains in Spain
Updated
Updated · Euronews · Sep 18
LaLiga Blocks 500-1,000 IPs per Match, Disrupting 554,000 Legitimate Domains in Spain
3 articles · Updated · Euronews · Sep 18
Summary
OONI estimates LaLiga’s anti-piracy blocks hit more than 554,000 legitimate domains in Spain in the first half of 2026, with outages returning as the 2026-27 football season began.
Between 500 and 1,000 IPs are blocked during matches under a 2024 Barcelona court order, but shared infrastructure means cutting one address can also knock unrelated sites and services offline.
Cloudflare took the biggest hit: 30% of blocked IPs accounted for 90% of affected domains—more than 501,000—including payment gateway Redsys, Linux Mint, retailers and research sites.
During Real Madrid’s 15 September match, blocks by Spain’s five main operators left some sites unreachable for nearly three hours; midweek disruptions on 16 September lasted five to six hours.
LaLiga says piracy costs it 600-700 million euros a year and defends dynamic blocking, but critics say more precise takedowns are available and the current authorization expires on 20 June 2027.