The Ball is Flat

Jose Maria Gay de Liebana is an Economist for the University of Barcelona and a frequent critic of the Economic structure of the Spanish League. He was interviewed recently for a Valencia magazine called Offside. In it he compared the Spanish League and its revenues and expenditures to the rest of Europe. In all the major leagues the costs are higher than the revenues, no one makes money in football, but the disparity is incredible in Spain. In England he writes, the highest grossing club is Manchester United with over 13% of the total in the Premier League. In Spain, 49.3% of all profits go to two clubs divided pretty much equally between them.

It's the reason why a club other than Real Madrid or Barcelona haven't won the title since Rafa Benitez's Valencia won the title in 2004 and why second and third tier sides see it as a moral victory to"come within 40 points of the leaders." It's not sustainable he says, and he's right, the television contracts that the clubs secure for themselves could be better negotiated as a package for international sales, but the problems are deeper than that.

It's more than just redistributing the money in a more equitable manner. The big clubs have a right to take more as they certainly make more. There are no guarantee that clubs will spend more wisely and not pocket the money in some labyrinthine money-grab. Clubs are poorly run, bankrupt, and are still allowed to continue operating as is under the Ley Concursal and there is corruption at the RFEF with little oversight where trust is at a minimum.

This isn't just a problem that can be fixed by a television contract and some extra cash in the tin. This is a top-to-bottom fix and frankly the Spanish government has bigger fish to fry or fix in the coming years. La Liga may not be doomed as Professor Gay de Liebana states, but it's sure in a heap of trouble.