Barcelona and Real Madrid both received €140m ($158.34m) in revenue from broadcast rights deals for the Spanish Liga and Copa del Rey competitions for the 2015-16 season as LaLiga, the governing body for the football competitions, prepares to enter into a new three-season cycle.
In a financial breakdown published by Spanish newspaper AS, LaLiga generated €1.237bn in total in broadcast revenues for the Liga and Copa del Rey during 2015-16, up from €851m in 2014-15.
Domestic rights accounted for €614.711m of this figure, with international deals making €622.422m for LaLiga. AS said the Mediapro agency’s success in marketing LaLiga’s international rights saw the company receive a €93.105m payment.
Each Liga club received an equal payment of €24.202m for its participation in the top division, with the remainder of payments for the league determined by sporting performance. Total payments across the Liga and Copa del Rey saw Barcelona and Real receive €140m apiece.
Atletico Madrid gained €69.083m, while Valencia and Sevilla received €53.796m apiece. Las Palmas received the least money for 2015-16 through a payment of €27.65m.
The 2015-16 season represented the first under LaLiga’s switch to collective rights selling, along with a move towards more equitable revenue sharing that is set to come into full force for 2016-17. LaLiga is expected to earn at least 57 per cent more per season from its 2016-17 to 2018-19 rights deals.