MADRID: Spanish telecommunications giant Telefónica and the Spanish league (Liga de Fútbol Profesional) have announced a landmark €600m broadcast rights deal for the top two divisions for next season.

The deal has proved controversial as it marks the first time the broadcasting rights in Spain have been negotiated collectively. Previously, clubs were free to market their own rights, which presented a significant imbalance between the top two – Real Madrid and Barcelona – and the rest of La Liga and the Segunda División.

Collective rights negotiations are standard across most of Europe, but had previously been blocked in Spain by those two clubs. Real Madrid are ranked as the world’s richest club by Deloitte, while Barcelona are in fourth place on that list.

The deal covers the 2015-16 season only and the figure of €600 million is dwarfed by the recent TV rights deal for the English Premier League, amounting to £5 billion (€7 billion) over three seasons from the start of the 2016-17 campaign.

It is only marginally higher than the €588m paid out for last season’s domestic rights, although in theory the €600m for this season will be distributed more evenly between the league’s member clubs.

The relatively low sum paid by Telefónica will be supplemented by the sale of international rights, where the league will see more of a boost. International rights are expected to raise a similar amount to the domestic rights, whereas last season they were worth a third of that amount, at €200m.

More than two-thirds of households in Spain only have free-to-air television packages, and Telefónica sees soccer as key to developing this market in its domestic territory. Matches will be shown on Telefónica’s subscription-only Movistar+ service, although broadcast rules mean it will also have to offer certain matches to other providers.

The LFP has yet to announce the precise start date for the new season, but have said that it will begin earlier than usual, probably around mid-August, due to next summer’s UEFA Euro 2016 tournament in France.

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