La Liga must club together on new TV rights deal

By John Howell.

The news broke over a week ago that the Barclay’s Premier League had sold their television rights for a staggering £5.136billion to broadcasters Sky and BT Sport for the 2016-19 seasons – but the ramifications of the deal will be felt around world football for years to come.

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While the 71 per cent increase in revenue compared with the previous 2012 deal has solidified England’s elite league as the place to be – at least in monetary terms – it has also opened eyes further afield. Football chiefs in Germany and Spain have realised the problems they will face as competitors to this record-breaking deal.

For many, Spain’s La Liga is the No1 league in football for the sheer amount of world-class players that have played with Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, and to a lesser extent, Valencia and Sevilla, in the past five years.

Those select clubs enjoy the riches that come with being European powerhouses but La Liga’s basement sides are struggling to break through a glass ceiling created by the current ruling that all top-level teams may negotiate their own TV deals.

Barca and Real fixtures are in obvious demand, but it’s unlikely teams such as Elche, Cordoba or Granada have a similar appeal to neutrals that would bring in the necessary ratings for broadcasters to offset production costs. Currently the smaller clubs in Spain receive around £13.295m a year (€18m) in comparison with the bottom side of last year’s Premier League, Cardiff City, who received £62m (€84.1m) for the privilege.

The spending power available to Premier League sides from 2016 has even seen La Liga president Javier Tebas reveal his fears that their superstars could be lured to England if things don’t change. Tebas is essentially saying that Spain has two options: come together or fall apart.

Collective bargaining has driven the Premier League to the top of the pile as all 20 clubs reap the rewards and are able to drive a higher rate by negotiating together. While football outsiders are horrified at the amount of money pouring into the TV rights deals, it is justifiable given the appeal of live football and competition from online media outlets.

La Liga must reform if it is to sustain and then successfully expand its global reach – and with it the money that follows – or face the long-term fallout. Collectively agreeing to a TV rights deal may not benefit the big guns as much as it would the ‘smaller’ teams, but it would strengthen the league as a whole. It would bring in new investment for academies and stadiums, and possibly drive down ticket pricing for the fans.

Until then, the Premier League will be the superpower of world football. All 20 clubs are now in the top 40 of the Deloitte Football Money League, with eight of those in the top 20. This leaves in their grasp the pick of the best players from the Dutch Eredivisie, France’s Ligue 1, Portugal’s Primeira Liga and beyond, with next to no financial constraints to combat. But it’s England’s closest rivals in La Liga that must take the window of opportunity to act – and I don’t just mean in terms of transfers.

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