Barcelona Renew Deal with Mediapro Agency

October 18, 2011

Spanish agency Mediapro has continued its deal with European Champions Barcelona until the end of the 2014-15 season, ed in a deal worth an additional Eur10 million ($30m) per campaign

The deal also includes taking over the management of Barca TV, try the club’s television channel, ed until June 2015, which has estimated running costs of about Eur6 million ($9.4m) per year. According to TV Sports Markets, Barcelona will now earn about Eur132.5 million ($207.3m) in the 2014-15 season and the contract covers both league and domestic cup rights.

Mediapro confirmed that the majority of Barcelona’s matches would be played in the evening kick-off slots but said that some games would take place at midday, which is the most attractive slot for Asian viewers who are a huge fanbase for the club.

Mediapro has been selling the rights to La Liga in Asia for the next rights cycle with the promise of earlier kick-off times. Spain is the only major European league where clubs sell their television rights on an individual basis, and the financial advantage it gives to the top two – Barcelona and Real Madrid – has led to dissension amongst the other clubs. Many spanish clubs have struggled to attract shirt sponsors due to this with clubs not being able to bridge the gap between the top and the rest. Without more Tv income they are unlikely to do so.

In the 2010-11 season, there was a 21-point difference between second-placed Real Madrid and third-placed Valencia. The difference in the other top four European leagues between the second and third-placed clubs ranged from zero to six points.