La Roja Earning Less From Friendlies Following World Cup Disappointment

The cache of the Spanish national football team "has lowered by half," according to Joaquín Maroto of AS. After at one point earning €2M per friendly, La Roja now "struggles to earn" €1M ($1.09M). The record of €2M was reached in Feb. '12 for a friendly against Uruguay in Qatar. That followed Spain's victories in the 2010 World Cup and 2008 Euro. But "the failure in the 2014 World Cup, when it was eliminated in the group phase," has made the team lose "not only its price for friendlies, but also some of its sponsors, and with those sponsors, annual revenue." Brands that have left La Roja recently are Bimbo Cepsa, Banesto, Gillette and Nissan. But "other important partners are remaining faithful." Iberdola pays the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) €4M ($4.36M) annually (AS, 3/26).