Spain’s top-flight clubs are ready to shut down La Liga if the government does not pass a law mandating collective bargaining for TV rights soon, Espanyol president Joan Collet said on Wednesday.
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“We are ready to halt La Liga if this (law) does not come out in one, two or three weeks,” Collet told Spanish radio.
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“I have already spoken with clubs like Valencia,” he added. “We would have to hold another assembly but we are ready if the government doesn’t get a move on.”
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La Liga, where the broadcast rights are held by Barcelona-based Mediapro, is the only top European league in which clubs negotiate their own TV contracts.
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Collet’s comments come the day after the English Premier League agreed a new collective TV rights deal with Sky and BT Sport for 2016-19 worth 5.2 billion pounds ($7.95 billion).
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Real Madrid, the world’s wealthiest club by income, and Barcelona, the fourth richest, together take about half the annual La Liga TV money of 650 million euros ($735 million), one reason they usually finish far ahead of their domestic rivals.
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