Sevilla president Jose Maria del Nido has invited all La Liga clubs, with the exception of FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, to a meeting that is set to see the contentious topic of broadcast revenue distribution discussed. Del Nido stated that as many as 15 of La Liga’s other 17 clubs are set to attend the meeting at Sevilla’s Sanchez Pizjaun stadium.
"This is an uprising by the rank and file," Del Nido told reporters. "We can compare it with the French revolution...and look at 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."
Villarreal president Fernando Roig last week warned that the growing financial gap between Barcelona and Real Madrid and the rest of La Liga will “kill Spanish football”. The issue of Barcelona and Real Madrid’s financial dominance has been a long running concern amongst their La Liga rivals. The two giants currently take around half of the league’s total TV income of Eur600 million with La Liga clubs selling their rights on a team-by-team basis, rather than in a collective bargaining deal.
Barcelona and Real last year brokered an agreement with 11 other top-flight sides to share some of the TV revenues from 2015, but many believe this is likely to have little effect. Sevilla and Villarreal were two of the clubs that refused to enter into the agreement, and Del Nido believes a strong grouping of La Liga clubs would put pressure on broadcasters. "We are going to open a debate to attempt to solve a problem on which we are all agreed," he added. "The broadcasters will do what the league says. If clubs decide to market their audiovisual rights collectively, it will be carried out by the body that we establish and that decision will be a majority one."
