Spanish regulator weighs in on marketing of football rights

Spanish markets regulator the CNMC has called on the Real Federación Española de Fútbol(RFEF) to modify the terms by which it makes rights to the Copa del Rey available to broadcasters.

The regulator called don the RFEF to make changes including strict limits on conditions attached to the award of rights, not to reserve rights without justification, not to include obligations in contradcts relating to advertising – such as giving free advertising to the RFEF itself – and only to set reasonable standards for production.

The CNMC’s latest intervention comes after Mediapro, which which the RFEF has been in dispute on multiple fronts, was barred from providing coverage of a match played by the Madrid Club de Fútbol Femenino.

Mediapro’s Gol TV production team were prevented from entering the stadium, despite the fact that Mediapro had previously struck an agreement with the Asociación de Clubes de Fútbol Femenino (ACFF) that gavie it rights to the teams matches.

The RFEF effectively took over the marketing of top-tier women’s football in August with the creation of the Primera Iberdrola league of 16 teams, opening the way to conflict over the terms of exploitation of rights to the games.