Madrid, Barça TV rights revenue on par with top Premier League clubs
Madrid, Jan 13 (EFE).- Real Madrid and FC Barcelona make as much revenue from TV rights as the top clubs in the Premier League despite the fact that England’s top division generates more income than its Spanish counterpart, LaLiga president Javier Tebas told Efe’s Sport Business Day forum Thursday.
“Quantitatively, the Premier League has a greater income than the Spanish league,” Tebas said during the 3rd edition of the forum, which this month focused on financing in the world of sport.
“This is most of all due to the English domestic market, which has many more inhabitants, a higher per capita income, and where pay TV is more established,” he added.
When it comes to broadcasting revenue in Spain, Barça leads the way with deals worth 165.6 million euros in 2020/21, placing it fourth in the international rankings topped by Manchester City, which pulled in 168.72 million euros (roughly 141 million pounds).
Real Madrid’s 163 million euros ranked it sixth internationally last season, behind Chelsea and ahead of Leicester City.
Tebas added that, although LaLiga had in recent years reduced the financial gap with the Premier League financially, bringing the Spanish league level with the English top-flight would be impossible due to the size of the English market.
During the Sports Business Forum, Tebas explained why TV rights in Spain are more unevenly distributed compared to the German Bundesliga or the Premier League.
“When the Royal Decree for Television was made in 2015, they proposed for distribution to be done like in the Premier League, but we upheld — and we believe in good judgment — that if we had such an even distribution, it would damage the competitiveness of (Spanish) teams playing in Europe,” he said.
“Our big teams are still economically competitive with the Premier League. I believe now also that, in two to three years, Atlético Madrid and some others will reach a level of income that matches the fifth biggest English club.
These clubs have been growing exponentially in recent years. EFE
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