By Andrew Warshaw
July 30 – With the European pre-season spending spree in full swing despite the apparent advent of financial fair play, the president of La Liga in Spain has made it clear his country is prepared to out-muscle the Premier League when it comes to financial clout.
The likes of Colombia’s James Rodriguez – scorer of the best goal at the World Cup and for whom the ultimate shop window paid handsome dividends – Luis Suarez and Germany’s Toni Kroos have all signed for either Real Madrid or Barcelona following big-money moves whilst La Liga champions Atletico Madrid have taken Mario Mandzukic from Bayern Munich and have agreed terms with Real Sociedad for France winger Antoine Griezmann.
The Premier League’s television income far outstrips that of La Liga but on the field Spain is way ahead, boasting in Real and Sevilla the current Champions League and Europa League holders. And La Liga boss Javier Tebas is determined to ensure the cream of global talent continue to choose Spain over England.
“We are not going to stop. We want the best 500 players,” said Tabas. “It is impossible to compare us with the Premier League from a commercial perspective. What we are trying to do is get closer to them. We want to make sure we have the biggest clubs and also the best players from the whole world in our league.”
Tebas is trying to bridge the financial gap by hitting new markets, including the US with its vast Hispanic population, and Asia. Last week he held a series of meetings in San Francisco to discuss future strategy.
But his remarks fail to take account of the fact that many Spanish clubs have racked up huge debts attempting to match the powerful Real and Barcelona duopoly.
Commercially La Liga’s system of each club negotiating its own TV deals plays into the hands of the two big giants who generate and keep the bulk of their TV rights income. By contrast, the Premier League negotiates its TV deals on a collective basis, selling an overall larger package of rights and subsequently larger fees that are then distributed to all the clubs in the league .
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