Global Fútbol

LaLiga’s association with the experienced global investor in sports organisations, CVC, will provide LaLiga with the support it needs to accelerate growth for Spanish clubs and the league.

The agreement is designed to accelerate the transformation of LaLiga and the clubs into a global digital entertainment company with the capacity to forge closer relationships with fans and offer them richer experiences. Below are testimonials from club presidents and directors about the historic agreement.

Miguel Ángel Gil Marín, CEO of Atlético de Madrid: “It’s good that the clubs seek to be stronger, more solvent and competitive. Operating under the umbrella of a strong league means we gain more value as brands. And this in turn means that we can offer our fans better facilities as well as better products and services”.

“The synergy between LaLiga and CVC will strengthen a fundamental aspect for the future of our industry, data. An industry like ours, sports and entertainment, needs to really know its supporters well. It isn’t enough to know how many supporters we have, we need to know who they are and be able to personalise our offers, which involves optimising club membership and satisfaction among the fans”, he told EFE.

Alfonso Fernández de Trocóniz, President of Deportivo Alavés: “It’s a historic agreement and a very important decision that will ensure the sustained growth of LaLiga as a whole and that of its clubs. For Deportivo Alavés, it gives us a unique opportunity to undertake strategic projects that will enable capitalisation of the club in the short and medium term, and will ultimately contribute to generating greater value for LaLiga over time”.

Patricia Rodríguez, Granada CF board member: “We have to see this as something very positive. 6 years ago we had a turning point, we took a big step forward with the centralised sale of audiovisual rights and now we are at another fundamental milestone in our journey, at a time when it is important to continue investing in infrastructure, digital media and, ultimately, in expanding the LaLiga brand and the brands of each individual club. It's going to be a very important first step in this next stage to grow and establish a strong positioning in the face of stiff competition from third parties that we have right now”.

Francisco Javier Catalán, President of Levante UD: “It’s a fantastic opportunity for all of us to grow, consolidate and be more competitive in the market. I think LaLiga has come to a point in its current growth journey where it needs a trusty travel companion. Strategically, it’s an ideal time because of the impact that this operation will have in the short, medium and long term. Above all, in the long term it will allow all of the clubs to grow, be more competitive and improve in many aspects and areas of the club that we are not currently exploiting. In short, a challenge that is both demanding and exciting.

Carlos Mouriño, President of RC Celta: “If this measure is approved it’s because it works very much in favour of football in general. We believe that it will create a middle class, if you will, of very strong teams that will together compete for the top spots. It’s a magnificent agreement that we all want to see carried forward, with very significant future growth expectations for Spanish football".

The president of the club from Vigo also took a moment to explain what the agreement consists of: “It’s a joint accounts agreement in which the fund receives a percentage on the increased profits for national football, through LaLiga, as a result of this joint venture and through which it is expected to produce much more. So, when they say that the fund is going to earn €20 billion, for example, we’re all happy, because if the fund earns €20 billion with 10%, look at what LaLiga would earn with 90%”.

Jokin Aperribay, President of Real Sociedad: “It’s a good agreement for LaLiga overall. It’s a very difficult time in which you have to think about the future and the next few years ahead, and for LaLiga to grow. It may be a boost, as its name (Impulso) suggests, for us to be able to manage the future the best way possible and to have a great league for many years to come”.

José Castro, President of Sevilla FC: “LaLiga has done a good job at a time when the pandemic has undoubtedly affected the clubs financially. It’s a good agreement, not only in the short term, but also in the medium and long term. In addition, I think it is going to be exciting to have a fund, a company, that also helps LaLiga grow. Although LaLiga has posted enormous growth in recent years, it is now going to have a partner to help take it to the next level”.

“As for Sevilla FC, I think it’s also a contribution, some much needed help, to continue growing as we are doing. The important thing here is LaLiga, which is going to grow significantly on a global level thanks to this agreement”, he added.

Anil Murthy, President of Valencia CF: “It’s important because it contributes to the global growth of LaLiga. We know the challenges and issues that there are, so it’s urgent that we do something together to be able to compete effectively with other leagues in other sectors. Valencia CF has been investing in updating and modernising the club for years. We are growing hand in hand with LaLiga, helping to grow the LaLiga brand worldwide, and we are going to continue. We are on the right track”.

Fernando Roig, President of Villarreal CF, expressed his position in statements to Movistar TV: “If we don’t invest, with loans or whatever, to have infrastructure, other countries around the world will overtake us. You have to invest in order to grow, for Spanish football to reach and remain at the top of the game.  This is not down to chance. Success doesn’t just come spontaneously out of nowhere, success comes from sheer hard work and investment”.

Javier Fernández, President of Real Sporting: “This decision is one of the most momentous that LaLiga has made in recent years, after the Economic Control and the Royal Decree on the distribution of audiovisual rights. Most clubs have understood this and voted accordingly. It’s progress for LaLiga, a strategy for the future that will allow it to continue growing and competing with the Premier League, our main competitor. In addition, it will give all the clubs the possibility of guaranteeing their future stability and for us, at this terrible time, the chance to move forward, to consolidate and strengthen our positioning, while at the same time providing everyone a much better service”.

In addition, the Real Sporting president states that, “It opens up a range of investments to be made, improvements in our sports complex, in the stadium and for developing and modernising our digital capabilities. I thank the clubs that have understood this and have been generous with their vote, because we have avoided such Byzantine debates about who takes more, who takes less, who has the most consistent distributions, in favour of lending our full support to the global good of LaLiga”. 

Manuel Torres, CEO of SD Huesca: “It’s a strategic agreement that cannot be postponed because LaLiga is facing new challenges and the need to compete with other leagues. The assessment must necessarily be positive. We will see, with respect to each of the clubs involved, what the outcome will be, but as a league and as a whole, this is a historic decision”.

Amadeo Salvo, President of UD Ibiza: “We are a small club and this is a small contribution that, without a doubt, will help us to the extent that we can apply it within the dimensions of the club. Agreements arise from key strategic situations, the last being back in 2015. Now we are in 2021, and we face another strategic milestone. There will always be differences of opinion, but it’s the majority that has to continue moving forward. When a decision is made by the majority, we all have to row in the same direction”.  

Patricio Viñayo, CEO of UD Las Palmas: “It’s the most important moment that LaLiga has experienced since the approval of the Royal Decree regulating the centralised sale of audiovisual rights, which was the springboard for LaLiga's quantum leap to a better quality offering and enhanced international presence. This has reduced the gap between the clubs that earned more  and those that earned less”.

“This agreement helps clubs with the shortfalls they have regarding infrastructures, in facing up to the digitalisation challenge and even to pay off debt brought on by the Covid pandemic. It’s important that we can take this qualitative leap together and commit ourselves to ensuring that LaLiga fulfils its objective of being the world’s most important competition”, he concluded.