Since a decline is a bad thing, Real Madrid has just received some bad news from La Liga. While Barcelona dominates the league standings, the club of Florentino Pérez is falling behind the Catalans financially.
Real Madrid is in a happy period. After winning a new trophy on Wednesday evening in the Intercontinental Cup final against Pachuca FC (3-0), the club of Florentino Pérez has accumulated its fifth trophy of the year 2024. Of course, this new title will do some financial good for the club's coffers, which will rake in a substantial sum from FIFA.
While the Madrileños are happy about their new exploit, the TV rights revenue in Spain last season has dropped. Barcelona finally surpasses Real Madrid in TV rights.
La Liga Strikes Real Madrid: The Bad News Confirmed 24 Hours After Pachuca
Considered the greatest club in Spain, the club of Florentino Pérez, which won the championship last season, finished second behind Barcelona in terms of TV rights revenue distribution. In fact, for the first time in several years, the Catalans pocketed much more money than the Merengues, with €162.49 million earned compared to €159 million for the Madrileños.
To explain this change in TV revenue, which favors the Catalan rival, we must refer to La Liga's decision. By forcing Spanish teams to play along with the media by sending players or coaches to speak before, during, and after matches, La Liga aimed to create more TV content. La Liga decided to reward Barcelona more, as they comply with these media requirements, whereas Real Madrid refuses to submit.
To reward the Catalans' submission, La Liga president Javier Tebas decided to penalize the club of Florentino Pérez, which falls behind Joan Laporta's club in terms of TV broadcasting rights revenue.
"La Liga divides TV rights money into three parts. 50% of the total is distributed equally among the 20 clubs. The rest is divided into two: 25% takes into account sports results, and the remaining 25% is awarded based on social implementation, which penalized Madrid," explains the media outlet Relevo.
According to the norms, the club from the Spanish capital should earn more. Note that Real Madrid will receive €2 million less than in the 2022-2023 season. Whatever one may say, the Madrileños shouldn't complain about this financial loss, since the club's coffers are relatively full, unlike those of the Catalans. This bad news ultimately doesn't hurt.