TVE seeks fresh talks after TV3 makes lowball Supercopa offer

Spanish public-service broadcaster TVE is seeking further talks with Catalan public-service broadcaster TV3 to try to increase the regional broadcaster’s bid to sublicense the rights for this year’s Supercopa domestic football competition.

TV3 offered TVE €600,000 ($786,000) for the rights, down from the €1 million it paid for last year’s competition, according to the Servimedia news agency. TV3 said economic austerity measures were behind its lower bid. A TVE source said: “We also have problems and… the offer does not satisfy us.”

The Supercopa is an annual two-match contest between the winners of the country’s league and cup – La Liga and the Copa del Rey.

The Spanish government is set to force TVE to slash its €1 billion annual budget by 20 per cent as the country attempts to stabilise a struggling economy.