Spaniards lose millions after botched championship

Unsuccessful defenders can say goodbye to big bonuses and lucrative new marketing contracts.

Thirty-five million dollars for the World Cup title, hundreds of thousands of dollars for clubs for players’ participation in the championship in Brazil, and millions more from lost marketing campaigns with major global brands. These astronomical sums are now out of reach for the Spanish footballers, who failed to defend their world champion title from four years ago and will return home after the group stage. The highly favoured Spanish players will feel this fiasco most in the drop of their marketing value, which brings them lucrative contracts with multinational brands. “Big companies are interested in successful players who shine at the World Cup. A player’s marketing value is directly proportional to both team and individual success. But in Brazil, none of the Spaniards stood out,” football agent Jozef Tokos told the Economic Daily.

Stars will feel the blow
The botched championship will also affect Spanish stars who have so far enjoyed well-paid contracts with major corporations. One example is Fernando Torres, striker for English giant Chelsea FC. With a total income of 21.3 million dollars last year, he ranked seventh among the world’s highest-paid footballers. Of that amount, 3.5 million came from advertising deals with giants such as Samsung and Nike. “One thing is certain — Torres will never again get a contract like the one he had when he joined Chelsea in 2011. And after this championship, that’s even more true,” notes Jozef Tokos. According to him, a similar fate awaits other players, especially those over 30. One example is Real Madrid goalkeeper and long-time national team mainstay Iker Casillas, who is among the most criticised Spanish players at the current World Cup. Players will also feel the failure directly in their wallets. After their previous triumph at the South African championship, Spain received the largest share from the bonus pool — 30 million dollars. The players shared around 11.5 million of that, with each receiving about half a million. The payout for Spain will be much smaller this year — for their participation in the group stage they will receive eight million dollars plus 1.5 million for preparations. Both the Spanish Football Association and the players will have to tighten their belts.

Millions from shirts and tickets
That’s not all. Spanish football clubs that supplied players to the national team will also miss out on hundreds of thousands of dollars. Specifically, the three largest and best-known — Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, and Atlético Madrid. Each club receives 2,800 dollars from FIFA per player per day at the championship. Had Spain reached the final, Barcelona alone would have earned nearly a million dollars for its six national team players. Real and Atlético, each with three players in Brazil, would have received half that amount. The early exit of Spain also disappointed major companies that poured tens of millions of dollars into advertising tied to the World Cup. “Interest in the tournament in Spain will certainly drop. There won’t be the same kind of frenzy as when Spain was still in the game,” reminded Czech sports marketing expert Jindřich Rajchl.