Liga BBVA: Josep Maria Bartomeu (FC Barcelona) wants collective sale of TV rights

Josep Maria Bartomeu, the president of FC Barcelona (Liga BBVA), wants the TV rights of the Spanish first division to be sold collectively, he told the British newspaper The Times on 04/08/2014. "We try to find a consensus. We have long wished to convince Liga BBVA clubs sell their TV rights collectively," he said.

In Spain, revenues for TV rights are negotiated one-on-one between clubs and broadcasters. Thus, Real Madrid and Barcelona each receive €140m in revenue per season for TV rights for Liga for 2010-2014 through their agreement with the Spanish broadcaster Mediapro. This is 6.5 times greater than that received by the Liga club that receives the least, according to the U.S. business news outlet Bloomberg on 10/02/2014.

Beginning in the 2015-16 season, Spanish professional clubs could be forced by law to sell their broadcasting rights collectively, Miguel Cardenal, the Spanish Secretary of State for Sports, announced on 18/04/2013. According to The Times on 04/08/2014, this collective sale would take effect in 2016-17.

"Barcelona and Madrid sell [their rights] individually…