What We're Reading
Spanish Government: La Liga TV Sales Need to Change
- Associated Press, Friday, April 19, 2013 12:43 PM
La Liga clubs owe the Spanish government more than $874 million in back taxes, although the figure is down from $950 million in 2012, Spain’s Sports Council said on Thursday. In a radio
interview, Council President Miguel Cardenal said the improvement is a positive, but the league still needs to find a more equitable way to distribute TV revenues, the sport’s
principal form of revenue, to ensure the survival of smaller clubs with financial problems.
To that end, Cardenal is pushing for a new law that would force clubs to sell La Liga broadcast
rights collectively, instead of individually, as they do now. In 2011, Real Madrid and Barcelona took in a reported $183.5 million each, with the next-highest earner, Atletico Madrid, taking in less
than $66 million. Meanwhile, Granada, at the low end of the spectrum, took in $15.7 million.
