Spanish football is in an extreme situation. Dazn and cvc They are considering breaking their contracts with The league due to economic and legal problems. javier thebes In this way, he is facing his most delicate moment since he became president of the employers’ association in 2013.
Dazn has so far failed to make profitable the investment of 470 million euros that it pays per season to LaLiga for broadcasting five games each day. telephoneyes, he pays the OTT about 280 million euros for including the channel in its television offer and thus being able to broadcast the entire day on Movistar Plus+.
As confirmed by different sources in the sector to HE SPANISH, Dazn has had financial problems to meet the payment schedule with LaLiga in recent months. This situation has led the group to consider the option of breaking their contract with LaLiga in the near future. Dazn has to face a disbursement of 2,350 million euros until 2027 with the employers chaired by Javier Tebas.
Javier Tebas, at the Europa Press breakfasts.
EUROPE PRESS
On the other hand, CVC considers leaving LaLiga once the Sports Law approved in December 2022 did not guarantee the legal security of the signed agreement. This Tuesday, March 7, took place at the Provincial Court the last hearing for the precautionary measures requested by real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Athletic Club. The decision will be known in the next hours or days.
CVC has already injected some 1,000 million euros to the almost 2,000 clubs that it has to contribute for 10% of the television rights for 50 years. Almost 500 million of the remaining should be paid in June of this 2023, while the last payment will be made in the same month of 2024.
As confirmed to THE SPANISH Authorized sources from both the economic and sports worlds, the investment fund has doubts about the agreement made with LaLiga. The reasons are that Javier Tebas failed to get FC Barcelona to join and that both the Catalan club and Real Madrid, Athletic and Real spanish soccer federation They have denounced both CVC and LaLiga for an operation that they consider illegal.
[Tebas intentó ‘comprar’ a un cargo de la RFEF para poner a Soler por Rubiales: “Hacemos un precontrato”]
These three clubs presented the rest of the entities with a better economic alternative. The call Sustainable project It consisted of a loan of 881 million to entities with an interest of around 2.3% to be repaid in 25 years. These figures contrast with the higher interest (6%) and the 50 years for 10% of the television rights that 38 clubs ended up signing with CVC, just as Tebas wanted.
In addition, with the Sustainable Project formula, they did not part with the TV rights and complied with the RD 5/2015 which has caused the agreement between LaLiga and CVC to have been taken to court by Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Athletic Club and the Federation.
CVC secured some exit clauses until June 2024. Whether the Justice declares the agreement with LaLiga illegal or not, the fund directed by Jaime Xavier You can break the contract and ask the clubs to return the money paid at 6% interest. This situation would cause most of the 38 clubs that signed with CVC to enter a serious financial situation. CVC, when consulted by this newspaper on this matter, has not wanted to “neither confirm nor deny” the information and has simply limited itself to “not commenting” on the matter.
Dazn’s calendar
Spanish football would thus be on the verge of collapse, since not only the 2,000 million euros that CVC has to contribute are in danger, but also part of the 2,350 million that Dazn must pay for television rights until 2027. The OTT already had to being rescued last year by its main shareholder, the American multinational Access Industriesafter an injection of more than 4,000 million to settle the large debt that the company was carrying.
Despite the fact that LaLiga was Dazn’s big bet in Spain, the subscriber numbers do not accompany the streaming platform. LaLiga reported at the last meeting of the TV rights control body that Dazn subscribers only amounted to 500,000, when before the purchase of the Spanish soccer championship matches it was already above 300,000. That is to say, only a little more than 100,000 subscribers have reached the OTT directly after the agreement to give five LaLiga matches until 2027.
[Albert Soler conspiró con Javier Tebas para echar a Rubiales y quedarse como presidente de la RFEF]
The total number of subscribers to LaLiga amounts to a total of 2.4 million, as confirmed by the employers to the clubs. These figures have caused Dazn to have problems coping with the payment schedule imposed by LaLiga, as several important sources assure THE SPANISH. These same voices familiar with the situation affirm that the OTT must significantly increase its income for the 2023/2024 season and that, if this is not the case, it would have serious difficulties to fulfill the contract until 2027.
During the last meeting of the TV organ, a club asked about the situation of Dazn’s payments to Javier Tebas. LaLiga replied that “the calendar had been fulfilled”. However, they did speak again about the difficulties that the streaming company is going through after having signed its agreement with the employers.
Sources from Dazn, when consulted by this newspaper, affirm that “it is false” that they have had payment difficulties or that renegotiating or breaking the contract with LaLiga has been considered despite what several important sources have expressed to EL ESPAÑOL. Of course, they do not deny that they have agreed on a new payment schedule with the employer of Javier Tebas, although they affirm that “it complies with what is established in the legal bases of the tender.”
The debt with CVC
This situation is also one of the reasons that causes doubts to grow in CVC and that it considers executing the exit clause that it has until June 2024. In addition, the clubs have already spent the money destined to sign and clean up debt, but not Almost nothing has been invested in infrastructure, as required by the plan of LaLiga Impulse.
Javier de Jaime himself has not hesitated recently to show his concern to the clubs, since this part of the agreement is not being fulfilled by the entities. There are even five teams that have not yet presented the documentation required by LaLiga.
CVC has also seen first-hand the concern and doubts of the clubs about LaLiga Impulso in a conference held in February. Despite the fact that the investment fund guarantees that the results will arrive within four or five years, there are several teams that believe that infrastructure spending is oversized for their needs.
Javier Tebas, president of LaLiga, (center) together with Miguel Ángel Gil (left), first vice president of LaLiga, during the Extraordinary Assembly
On the other hand, and even more important, is the legal battle that LaLiga and CVC have with Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Athletic Club and RFEF. Javier Tebas failed, as he wished, for the Sports Law to guarantee the legality of the project and the agreement. This caused a major setback for the investment fund, which is now considering executing its exit from the agreement regardless of what the Court decides. In addition, this fight in the courts can be extended up to two years.
The Provincial Court of Madrid met this Tuesday before the request for precautionary measures that Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Athletic Club have requested. In the event that they are granted, the LaLiga Impulso plan should be stopped immediately and the remaining 1,000 million from the investment fund would not arrive. Although this option is difficult to come to fruition, the judicial battle will in any case be long and will wear down a CVC that is not ruling out breaking with Javier Tebas now.
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