Over La Liga’s opening weekend, fans of 19 Spanish top-flight clubs had access to scenes and areas where cameras have never previously been allowed. Live broadcasts brought us right into the huddle as Barcelona coach Xavi implored his team to play “one or two touches, one or two touches” to get around Getafe’s obstinate defence.
All but one La Liga club collaborated with the new broadcast
initiatives. Madrid decided to boycott all interactions with rights holders
before, during and after their 2-0 win at San Mames. And Los Blancos will miss
out on about €13million (£11.1m; $14.2m) if they do not change tack and take
part in the extra “voluntary” features championed by La Liga president Javier
Tebas.
The idea behind these features — newly introduced this season
— is to make La Liga more interesting to viewers both in Spain and around the
world, with the aim of increasing the money paid by broadcasters for the rights
in the future.
There were no cameras in Madrid’s dressing room on Saturday,
and there was no informal pre-game televised chat between coach Carlo Ancelotti
and his Athletic counterpart Ernesto Valverde.
In an apparent protest at the new approach, Madrid even went
a step further. Nobody from the club — neither director Emilio Butragueno, nor
Ancelotti, nor the players — did their required usual media duties with rights
holders either before or after the game either.
A difficult relationship with broadcasters
During Florentino Perez’s presidency, Madrid have generally
had a difficult relationship with broadcasters, including ESPN in the United
States and Movistar in Spain. It is not unprecedented for their staff to be
instructed not to participate in media duties, which has led to punishment and
fines from La Liga in previous campaigns.
However, the latest boycott on the first day of the 2023-24
season is a further step outside the regulations and can be understood as yet
another battle in the long-running war between Perez and Tebas for power, money
and influence in Spanish football.
Ever since Tebas became La Liga president in 2013, when he quickly
brought in the collectivised sale of TV rights, there has been constant
conflict. That move meant the league as a whole has earned more money, but
Madrid have felt penalised by not being able to sell their games individually
as before.
Over the last decade, the Bernabeu hierarchy have taken more
than 20 different court cases against La Liga actions, including numerous
objections to how the TV money is shared out. Judges have regularly found in La
Liga’s favour — most recently in May when an appeal by Madrid against
punishment for not fulfilling their obligations under the regulations was
rejected.
The bigger clubs are still very much favoured by the system,
as Spanish law mandates that factors such as historical record and size of
fanbase count as much as finishing position in calculating what share each club
gets each year.
During the 2021-22 season — the most recent campaign for
which figures are available — Madrid received just over €160m, slightly more
than second-placed Barcelona, and over three times more than the €46m given to
lowest earners Real Mallorca, Elche and Rayo Vallecano.
Under the revised share-out introduced for 2023-24, 75 per
cent of TV revenue will continue to be distributed as before, with part of the
remaining 25 per cent now depending on how each club collaborates with the
“audience recognition” innovations.
Barca cannot afford not to take part
Financially troubled Barca are in no position to turn down
any revenue they can get their hands on, and the relationship between Tebas and
Blaugrana president Joan Laporta has improved markedly in recent months.
La Liga has not made public exactly how the calculations are
made, but continuing to boycott all the new voluntary broadcasting initiatives
would mean a cut of about €13m from Madrid’s total La Liga broadcast revenue
for 2023-24.
Even for a club with an annual income of well over €800m,
that is a significant cost. But it may not be enough for Perez and Madrid to
change tack and embrace Tebas’ new measures.
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