Spaniards revolt against Real and Barcelona

If the government does not adopt a regulation on the new redistribution of money from the sale of television rights, teams are determined to strike.

Spanish football giants Real Madrid and FC Barcelona each receive €140 million annually from the sale of television rights. In contrast, the average income of the remaining 18 top-division teams is just €26 million. This unfair imbalance has sparked unrest among teams on the Iberian Peninsula. In an open letter, they are calling on the Spanish government to approve a centralized sale of TV rights. This would mean that Real and Barcelona would no longer be able to sell them individually as before – instead, the revenue would be distributed far more fairly. The gap between the elite duo and the rest of La Liga would shrink. “We are giving the government three weeks to approve the regulation on centralized sales, otherwise we will stop playing,” stated Javier Tebas, president of the league’s clubs association (LFP), in the letter.

First- and second-division clubs lost patience after the new sports regulation law failed to make it onto the government’s agenda at the end of January. “Two years ago, it was promised that this law would set new economic rules for football competitions. But it failed to pass last year, and its approval was unsuccessful again at the start of this year,” Spanish sports lawyer and football agent Jonás Vallina told the Economic Daily. According to him, clubs led by Atlético Madrid, Sevilla, and Valencia have run out of patience and refused to stay silent any longer. “They will no longer settle for promises and postponements of this regulation. If it is not established by law within a few weeks, a strike by first- and second-division teams will become a reality in March,” Vallina confirmed. According to LFP president Javier Tebas, thirty out of the total of forty-two football teams from the top two divisions are ready to join in. The battle over millions from TV rights sales is heating up, especially with the contract with TV companies expiring at the end of the current season. “Without centralized TV rights sales, most clubs will not be able to operate sustainably, despite the country’s economic situation improving compared to previous years,” noted Vallina.

The best example of growing anger over the enormous revenues of Barcelona and Real is Atlético Madrid. In the last three seasons, it has won more trophies than both Spanish giants combined – the Spanish league title (2014), the cup (2013), and twice the UEFA Super Cup (2013 and 2014). Yet, from last season’s TV money, it received only €42 million – almost €100 million less than its more famous rivals. “Just this past weekend, they convincingly defeated Real Madrid 4–0, and in recent years, they have achieved better sporting results than Real and Barcelona. I can imagine that this other Madrid team is among the leaders of the discontent,” sports analyst and agent Jozef Tokos told the Economic Daily. Atlético Madrid owner Miguel Angel Gil Marin also expressed his dissatisfaction with the current situation and his hope for a swift change to the distribution rules of hundreds of millions of euros on the club’s official website. “The government has promised several times to approve collective TV rights sales, but has not yet fulfilled this. Football in our country requires that it take this simple and necessary step to ensure the viability of clubs and the competitiveness of the league,” Marin declared. The fact is that the redistribution of rights in England and Germany is done in a far more equitable way. Last year, from the total revenue pool, Liverpool in England took the largest share (6.24% of TV rights money), while in Germany it was Bayern Munich (7.46%). If Barcelona and Real were to receive a similar percentage under the new system, instead of €140 million annually, they would get “only” €56 million.