Sevilla step up push for fairer TV cash share
Reuters - Tuesday 06 September 2011, 15:56
MADRID - Sevilla president Jose Maria del
Nido has stepped up his campaign to stop Real Madrid and
Barcelona taking around half the audiovisual rights revenue by
inviting all La Liga clubs except the big two to a meeting on
Thursday.
Del Nido, one of the most outspoken critics of the current
system under which Real and Barca collect about 50 percent of
the annual pot of around 600 million euros,
compared his campaign on Tuesday to the French revolution.
He said as many as 15 of the 17 other clubs in the top
flight had confirmed they would attend Thursday's gathering at
Sevilla's Sanchez Pizjaun stadium, which would be a chance for
discussion rather than a forum for taking concrete decisions.
"This is an uprising by the rank and file," Del Nido, a
lawyer by profession, told reporters.
"We can compare it with the French revolution... and in the
end look what happened to the king who was in charge in France.
"There is no going back here, as directors we cannot allow a
situation where, because two clubs are very powerful, they bring
about the demise of the Spanish league."
The difference in class and spending power between Barca and
Real, the world's richest clubs by revenue, and their domestic
rivals was underlined by their emphatic wins in their opening
league games of the season.
Spanish and European champions Barca crushed Villarreal, who
are competing in this season's Champions League, 5-0 at the Nou
Camp, while Real demolished Real Zaragoza 6-0.
The results prompted the president of Villarreal to accuse
the big two of killing Spanish football, while Del Nido said La
Liga was "a load of rubbish" as only two teams had a realistic
chance of winning the title.
BIGGER SHARE
Spain has yet to adopt the system of collective bargaining
and income sharing used in other competitions such as the
English Premier League and Real and Barca get a far bigger share
of TV money than rivals in other major European leagues.
The pair brokered an agreement late last year with 11 other
top-flight sides that would introduce limited revenue sharing
from 2015.
However, analysts have said the deal, which Sevilla,
Villarreal, Athletic Bilbao and several others refused to sign
up to, was likely to cement the big two's advantage while
helping the other clubs only marginally.
"We are going to open a debate to try to solve a problem on
which we are all agreed," Del Nido said. "The television
broadcasters will do what the league says.
"If the clubs decide to market their audiovisual rights
collectively, it will be done by the body that we decide and
that decision will be a majority one."
Real declined to comment on Del Nido's initiative, while
Barca did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Miguel Guillen, president of Sevilla's city rivals Real
Betis, was quoted as saying in local media on Tuesday that when
clubs came to negotiate their new contracts with broadcasters
they would try to end Real and Barca's hegemony over TV cash.
Most of the current deals expire around 2014.
"Talks on 2014 will be held at the appropriate time but one
thing is for sure," Guillen said.
"When the clubs sit down to negotiate we hope that the rule
that says 50 percent of the money goes to Real Madrid and
Barcelona disappears."