The offer would make Athletic the fifth biggest media-rights earner in La Liga behind Real Madrid, Barcelona, Villareal and Atlético de Madrid. Athletic’s current contract is worth €17 million per year and expires in June 2012. Athletic is understood to be holding out for €30 million per season, the same amount offered by Prisa to Sevilla, according to Sevilla’s president José María del Nido.
Prisa and Mediapro are competing for the media rights to Sevilla, Racing Club de Santander, Villarreal and Real Zaragoza. Prisa currently owns the rights to second division teams Real Betis, Celta de Vigo and Tenerife, while Mediapro has the rest of the rights.
Spanish clubs from La Liga and the Segunda División, the top two domestic football divisions, have sold their television rights individually since 1996, although in practice only the bigger La Liga clubs have sold individually, with a group of smaller La Liga clubs and Segunda División teams negotiating their rights collectively since 2003.