UEFA pays Spanish federation €1.5m for women’s league streaming rights
MADRID: UEFA has given the Spanish Federation’s (RFEF) €1.5 million (US$1.7 million) to invest in its broadcasts for select teams in the domestic top-flight women’s soccer league.
This new arrangement comes after RFEF confirmed back in June that Liga Iberdrola matches would be streamed overseas via the European governing body’s new over-the-top service (OTT), UEFA.tv.
Now the soccer body has acquired rights to air matches in Spain played by members of Primera Iberdrola in the RFEF’s Elite Programme.
The teams to have joined that project have not been revealed, although Barcelona, Athletic Club Bilbao, Sevilla and CD Tacón, the club owned by Real Madrid, are all reportedly involved.
While it is unclear whether UEFA’s deal covers one or multiple seasons, the teams included are set to receive a minimum of €500,000 (US$550,000) per season from the RFEF.
The media rights of three teams of those teams – Barcelona, Bilbao and CD Tacón – are not currently part of the Association of Women’s Soccer Clubs (ACFF) deal with Spanish agency Mediapro, a three-year contract worth in the region of €3 million (US$3.3 million) per season. That deal was ratified in a Madrid court earlier this summer after Mediapro and the ACFF sought to clarify their legal position after the RFEF’s reorganisation at the top of the Spanish women’s game.
The commercial court of Madrid later ruled that RFEF could not force ACFF members to cede their TV rights deal signed with Mediapro in order to join the Primera Iberdrola.
The league realignment came as energy company Iberdrola expanded and extended its title sponsorship deal with the RFEF for a further six years. That agreement will see RFEF receive a minimum €1 million (US$1.1 million) a year through to the end of the 2024/25 season.
The RFEF also announced that it would allocate around €20 million (US$22 million) for women’s soccer, of which €6.5 million (US$7.1 million) will go to the national team and the rest to club competitions.
Meanwhile, the RFEF remains in a dispute with Mediapro over the ownership of Madrid CFF’s media rights, after the club signed with the agency in March as part of the ACFF deal. On 8th September, Madrid CFF refused to allow cameras into their 1-0 victory over Real Betis, for which the ACFF is seeking an explanation.
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