The Swiss Football League, the operating body of the top two divisions of Swiss football, has sealed a revenue distribution agreement with its 20 member clubs that will take effect from the first season of its new broadcast rights contract.
The SFL said that from the 2017-18 season, a total of CHF30.7m (€28.5m/$31.5m) will go to the clubs – a significant increase from the current sum of CHF17.2m per season for the television and marketing rights.
The division of this sum will see CHF24.1m go to top-tier Super League clubs, with CHF6.6m assigned to second-tier Challenge League sides.
In the Super League, the revenue split will be based on a two-pillar principle. Each club will receive a basic CHF1.8m, plus a payment based on its ranking in the 10-team competition of up to CHF1.5m. The Super League champion therefore stands to gain CHF3.3m with the bottom team receiving CHF1.8m. The SFL has elected to scrap an additional revenue pillar determined by the advertising value of each club.
The CT Cinetrade rights purchasing subsidiary of telecommunications group Swisscom last month formally sealed a four-season extension to its agreement for exclusive rights to the Super League and Challenge League. Confirmation of the deal came after Swisscom chief executive, Urs Schaeppi, said in June that the company had sealed an extension of its deal with the SFL covering the 2017-18 to 2020-21 campaigns.
The SFL said Swisscom’s pay-television arm Teleclub will provide live coverage of all 180 matches per season from the Super League. It added that in the future public-service broadcaster SRG-SSR will broadcast a Sunday game from the Super League, with 36 of these broadcasts being provided across the season.
Meanwhile, the Lagardère Sports agency also sealed a four-season extension to its contract to market the international rights to the two leagues. In addition, the InfrontRingier Sports & Entertainment agency will continue to market the SFL’s sponsorship rights across the 2017-18 to 2020-21 seasons.