With Real Madrid just one point away from singing the alirón, it may seem that the only thing that is at stake for the teams that succeed it is to tie their qualification for the next Champions League. Than to end up between the top four enough, because from the second to the fourth all receive the same continental reward. However, Barcelona (2nd, 63 points), Sevilla (3rd, 63) and Atlético (4th, 61) are playing in these last five games for more than just eluding the pursuit of Betis (5th, 57) and Real Sociedad (6th, 55). [CONSULTE LA CLASIFICACIÓN DE LALIGA]
Beyond the fact that only the second will play the next Spanish Super Cup (along with Madrid, Betis and Valencia), with what this means for the coffers of the clubs, the position of each club at the end of the season will determine in part the income from television rights received during the next five academic years. A not insignificant variable, since the difference between being second or fourth in LaLiga is equivalent to a minimum of €17 million in club accounts.
Legal department
To explain where this figure comes from, it is necessary to resort to Royal Decree Law 5/2015 of April 30, which governs the criteria for the distribution of income from television rights obtained by LaLiga and which in the near future will also govern the distribution of the professional women’s league money.
The Decree establishes that, in the First Division, half of the total income is divided in equal parts among the 20 participants. A fourth is based on the social implantation (subscriptions, ticket offices and generation of resources for the competition as a whole) and another 25% is distributed taking as a reference the league classification of the club in question in the last five seasons.
Herein lies the difference, since the first classified receives 17% of that quarter of the total income, while the bottom of each course keeps 0.25%, in a progressive table: the second keeps 15%, the third 13%, the fourth 11%. .
Taking as a reference the total cast figure for the 2020/21 season, which was 1,444.7 million euros (a figure that includes national and international television rights), the second classified in this League will receive some 57 million euros for their final position, the third will receive 49.5 million and the fourth will keep 40 ‘kilos’.
five seasons
Figures, however, the clubs will not charge at once, since his final position in each season has an impact on his income in the next five. An example to understand it better: the income of a club this season is conditioned by 35% (of the part corresponding to the distribution by league classification) by its position in this same season, 20% by what they obtained in the 2020 campaign /21 and by 15% of each of the previous three.
All these figures also have a direct impact on the salary limits of the teams for the summer market. The second-placed team will receive an injection of €21.5 million for their classification, while the fourth place will stay with 13.9. This means, broadly speaking (because there is small print), that the second will be able to invest 7.6 million more on their squad next season than fourth. The third, meanwhile, will receive 19 ‘kilos’.
Since, it remains written, his position this season affects the next five, each team will drag the consequences for five years, also in their salary limit. At the end of the 2026/27 season, the team that comes second will have had the ability to invest 17 million euros more in its workforce than the one who finished fourth.
To these differences in income derived from television income, we must also add those that arise from competing or not in the Spanish Super Cup. In this case, the account is more complex, since each competitor receives different financial rewards based on their cache. At a merely estimated level, going to Saudi Arabia next January could bring Barça six million, Atlético four and a half and a little less for Sevilla. In other words, in the case of the azulgrana, being fourth instead of second can cause an accumulated decrease in their income of about €23 million.
The Delegate Commission of LaLiga approved this Wednesday variations in the calculation of salary limits, aimed at cushioning the impact of economic losses derived from Covid-19. The impact of this deficit may be distributed over five seasons, instead of having to be fully absorbed in the face of this summer market. In this way, for the next season only 15% of Covid losses generated by the clubs, 20% in the next two and 22.5% in each of the next two. In addition, teams with salary limits exceeded will be able to continue to benefit from the rule that allows them to use a surplus of the money they release for transfer or removal of ‘franchise players’, those whose salary exceeds 5% of the total. Until now they could freely use 50% of that money, an amount that for the summer market is reduced to 33% and that will later be reduced to the usual percentage, 25%.
