A few months ago, a groundbreaking agreement was made to possibly change the face of domestic football in Spain forever. The LFP, the body in charge of Spain’s top two divisions- the La Liga and the Segunda Division, agreed to collectively negotiate broadcast rights for the entire league rather than continue with the existing tradition which saw clubs negotiate individual deals with broadcasters. The result was that clubs, based on their brand strength, supporter base and global appeal, earned vastly varying amounts from broadcast rights which ultimately ensured that only the biggest clubs- Real Madrid and Barcelona- earned incredible sums from broadcast deals.
Predictably, with the big two prospering with earnings from broadcast rights, the smaller clubs found it impossible to compete. However, in a bid to correct the situation and run television rights negotiations like other big leagues in England and Italy, the LFP have decided to negotiate collective deals and then disburse the money earned more equitably across board.
The 2015-16 football season, which kicks off next month, will be the first season when the arrangement is deployed as Spanish telecommunications giant Telefónica have announced an agrreement for sale of domestic broadcast rights for the top two divisions for €600 million. The new broadcast deal will cover only the 2015/16 season but with the LFP yet to agree sales of international rights as well, the total earnings from broadcast rights could well cross the €1 billion mark.
Critically, these earnings will be distributed more evenly between the league’s member clubs thus ensuring that the financial imbalance- a hallmark of Spanish football over the years- could be, over the course of the next decade eroded.
Ultimately, while the new deal does not guarantee the weakening of Barcelona and Real Madrid’s hold on supremacy in the league, it does strengthen the hands and coffers of the league’s other clubs ensuring that they can hang on to their best players for much longer by offering better salaries- usually the biggest pull for a transfer by players- and thus increase their chances of competing more evenly in the league.
Crucially as well, with clubs guaranteed higher earnings from television rights, Spanish club will suddenly find themselves in better positions as regards spending power. This could mean that talent which might been deemed unaffordable or too risky based on their slim margin for financial errors could become firmly within their reach.
One of the biggest beneficiaries of this could be African football talent who have previously not had Spain as favourable destinations due to the tendency for smaller clubs to focus on developing young talent and the bigger club’s inclination to buy only the top brass players. Over the last decades, lesser leagues in Belgium, due to proximity, and France, due to language, have proven to be most usual destinations but with Spanish clubs getting stronger financially, a new market could be on the cards.
Ordinarily, Africa’s best players can walk into the biggest clubs and hold their own but with the growth of lucrative football talent markets in the Middle East and more recently in China, there has been a tendency to opt for the riches of the Gulf and the Far East while forsaking the competitive edge and possible glorious accomplishments especially given the lack of ‘middle ground’ in mainstream Europe.
But with Spain widely regarded as one of the best leagues globally and with Spanish clubs being able to spend higher amounts and less restrictively, African football talent could increasingly find its way to one of football’s great homes while fulfilling dreams of glorious triumphs and financial rewards without necessarily giving one up for the other.
