The Mediapro agency has been ordered to pay Spanish Liga football club Real Sociedad €11.6 million ($15.2 million) within 60 days by the country’s Court of First Instance.
Mediapro was adjudged to have underpaid on rights fee instalments to Sociedad. Spanish newspaper El Mundo Deportivo reported in March this year that the agency was arguing that the lower rights fee payments were justified by Real Sociedad’s three seasons in the Segunda División from 2007-08 to 2009-10.
The agency had also argued that its contract for the club’s rights had resumed after Sociedad were promoted again, and should run until 2015. Sociedad in March agreed a rights deal for 2013-14 and 2014-15 with Mediapro’s rival Prisa, a pay-television operator.
Mediapro’s arguments were rejected by the court, and the agency was ordered to pay the outstanding fees as well as the costs of the hearing. The agency has 20 days to appeal, according to Spanish newspaper El Mundo Deportivo.
Meanwhile, Mediapro is pursuing legal action against another club, Real Mallorca, for allegedly breaching a rights contract. The agency claims the Liga club failed to pay back a €3.8 million advance on a rights deal that was subsequently cancelled.
Mallorca signed a three-year rights deal, from 2012-13 to 2014-15, with Prisa after terminating early a contract with Mediapro that was due to run until the end of the 2013-14 season.
In attempting to justify the cancellation of the Mediapro deal, Mallorca cited competition law, introduced in Spain in 2010, which prevents rights-holders from owning a team’s broadcasting rights for more than three years.