The collective sale of football tv rights in Spain approved
By Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw
The Spanish Government on 30 April, 2015 approved the collective sale of football TV rights with effect from 2016.
These new rules are designed to bring the situation in Spain more into line with the English FA Premier League arrangements and “adapt [Spain] to modern times”. The rules will affect the rights to transmit games in the Spanish first and second football divisions and also the ‘Copa Del Rey’ and ‘Super Cup’ competitions.
This means that Real Madrid and Barcelona will no longer be able to sell their TV rights on a lucrative individual club basis and also that broadcasters will, generally speaking, have to pay more for TV rights in Spain in the future.
Under the new arrangements, 90% of the total sale of the rights will go to all the 20 ‘La Liga’ clubs, 50% of which will be shared equally between them, with the other 50% being allocated according to certain criteria, including performance and size. The remaining 10% of the sale of the rights will go to ‘La Segunda Division’ football clubs, 70% of which will be shared equally between them.
It will be recalled that, in February of this year, the English FA Premier League sold their live rights for the three seasons 2016 – 2019 for a record sum of £5.136 billion!
That, and the latest developments in Spain, all go to show, as has been very well said, that sport and broadcasting are a ‘marriage made in heaven’!
Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw is an International Sports Lawyer, Academic and Author and may be contacted by e-mail at ‘This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ’
