Top Spanish football clubs lose right to negotiate individual TV deals

Telefónica’s Fusión TV Fútbol offering: clubs will now negotiate rights collectively

Spanish top-tier football clubs including Real Madrid and Barcelona will lose the right to negotiate their own TV deals with TV broadcasters from next year under a new law governing the sale of rights.

The law, which will come into effect in 2016, will bring Spanish football into line with the collective rights deals negotiated in other western European markets including the UK, where lesser Premier League clubs secure a larger share of the overall pie.

The new regulations will cover the sale of first and second division league games as well as the Copa del Rey and Super Cup competitions.

Ninety per cent of proceeds from the sale of rights will now go to top division La Liga clubs, with half to be shared equally between the 20 clubs in the league and half to be divided up according to individual clubs’ performance and profile. Ten per cent will go to second division clubs, with 70% of that divided equally and the remainder to be allocated according to performance and profile.

The Spanish football federation will ultimately receive 2% of the overall take, with 0.5% of that to be allocated to funding women’s football and 1% to be used to fund social security for high-level athletes.