Officials from Spain's 42 professional football clubs met in Barcelona on Wednesday "to decide whether to strike in a bid to force the government to pass a law mandating collective bargaining for TV rights," according to Iain Rogers of REUTERS.
Many clubs in La Liga, including the likes of champions Atlético Madrid, Espanyol, Valencia and Sevilla, "are hopeful a collective deal would enable them to demand more cash from broadcasters which would then be shared out more equitably to create a more level playing field."
Spanish sports daily As reported on Tuesday, without identifying the source of its information, that "a majority of clubs, especially the more modest ones, favoured shutting down Spain's top two leagues," possibly the weekend of April 18-19.
La Liga "is the only top European league in which clubs negotiate their own TV contracts" and Spanish teams are under pressure to boost revenue after the EPL last month agreed a new collective TV rights deal for '16-19 worth around $7.43B.
Real Madrid, the world's wealthiest club by income, and Barcelona, the fourth richest, "together take about half the annual La Liga TV money" of around €650M, one reason "they usually finish far ahead of their domestic rivals."
The Spanish Football League (LFP), which represents the 42 clubs in the first and second divisions, "has accused the government of dragging its feet in pushing through a new sports law that would include mandated collective bargaining" (REUTERS, 3/25).
