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What it is

Soccer clubs sell their TV rights together

BOE step 7 of 7 · Passed

It is a royal decree-law. It was introduced on 4 May 2015. Introduced by: Gobierno.

Official title: Royal Decree-Law 5/2015, of 30 April, on urgent measures in relation to the marketing of the exploitation rights of audiovisual content of professional football competitions.

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Source: Congreso de los Diputados, file 130/000069· updated 11 Nov

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

  1. TV rights to matches belong to the clubs, but they must transfer their joint commercialization to the League (the professional soccer league) for the national championship and to the Royal Spanish Football Federation for the Copa del Rey and the Supercopa. Each club keeps some rights of its own, such as delayed broadcasts on its own channel.
  2. The joint sale must follow a public, transparent and competitive procedure, with contracts of at most three years. No one may acquire exclusive rights to more than two packages of matches in the national market. The National Markets and Competition Commission oversees the sale conditions.
  3. Revenue is shared: 90% for the first division and 10% for the second. Within each division, part is split equally and the rest depends on sporting results and social following. The gap between the highest and lowest earning club cannot exceed 4.5 times.
  4. Clubs must allocate 3.5% of revenue to a fund for teams that are relegated, 1% to the League for promotion, 1% to the Federation for amateur soccer, and up to 1.5% to the Higher Sports Council for women's soccer, the second division B and associations of players, referees and coaches.
  5. If a single company buys the exclusive rights to first division matches for pay TV, it must offer other operators access to a basic signal on fair terms. If there is a dispute, the National Markets and Competition Commission decides.
  6. The audiovisual communication law is amended to set free sports highlights in news programs at 90 seconds, and the sports law is amended to tighten control over who buys stakes in sports corporations.

Who it affects

  • First and second division clubs: They must transfer the sale of their TV rights to the League and meet the sharing and contribution rules.
  • National Soccer League and Royal Spanish Football Federation: They become the entities in charge of selling the rights jointly.
  • TV companies: They must bid in a public procedure, no one can take more than two exclusive packages, and whoever buys exclusivity must share a basic signal.
  • Amateur, women's and non-professional soccer: They receive funding from the joint sale of TV rights.
  • Higher Sports Council: It oversees the system, can act as arbitrator in disputes and controls sports corporations.

Words worth knowing

Derechos audiovisuales
Rights to broadcast or exploit images of soccer matches on TV or other media.
Comercialización conjunta
Joint commercialization: all clubs' rights are sold together in one package instead of each club selling its own separately.
Sociedad Anónima Deportiva
The type of corporation that Spanish professional sports clubs must be.
Consejo Superior de Deportes
The Spanish public body that manages sports.
Real decreto-ley
A rule with the force of law that the Government can pass urgently, without the full parliamentary process first.

It summarizes the law as published in the BOE. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries

Where it stands

How far did it get?

It took 7 of 7 steps. It reached BOE, and today it is passed.

  1. Introduced4 May 2015Someone registers the text in the Congreso.
  2. Admitted5 May 2015The Bureau of the Congreso accepts it and, for a members’ bill, the plenary decides whether to consider it.
  3. Amendmentsno dateGroups propose changes.
  4. Committeeno dateA committee goes through the text in detail.
  5. Plenary5 May 2015All 350 deputies vote.
  6. Senateno dateThe Senate can pass it, amend it or veto it.
  7. BOEno dateIt is published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) and comes into force.
See the 4 official steps on a timeline
May 201511. 4 May 2015: Presentación22. 5 May 2015: Calificación33. 5 May 2015: Pleno Convalidación desde 05/05/2015 hasta 14/05/201544. 14 May 2015: Concluido - (Convalidado) desde 14/05/2015 hasta 26/05/2015

14 May 2015

How did the plenary vote?

More votes against 43 yes · 181 no · 88 abst.

Voted on: Processing as a Government bill by the urgent procedure of Royal Decree-Law 5/2015, of 30 April, on urgent measures in relation to the marketing of the exploitation rights of audiovisual content of professional football competitions.

This law had 2 votes; this is the latest with every deputy’s vote. See them all

Source: Congreso de los Diputados, vote 3 of sitting 264· updated 10 Nov

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Your province

How did the deputies from your province vote?

And your senators: the Senate does not link its votes to this law in its open data, so we cannot put them side by side here.

Or see how most of each province voted
More details: how each group and each province voted

The groups

Who voted in favour and who against?

In favour, most of Vasco (EAJ-PNV), Mixto, GC-CiU, GIP and GUPyD. Against, most of Popular en el Congreso. 3 deputies voted differently from their group.

By province: in 5 most voted in favour; in 41, against.

Coloured by how most of each province’s deputies voted.

  • In favour: 5
  • Against: 41
  • Abstained: 1
  • Tie: 4
Result by parliamentary group
GroupSeatsHow it voted
Socialista110
1 in favour · 2 against · 88 abst. · 19 did not vote
Vasco (EAJ-PNV)5
5 in favour
Mixto18
11 in favour · 7 did not vote
GC-CiU16
14 in favour · 2 did not vote
GIP11
8 in favour · 3 did not vote
GUPyD5
4 in favour · 1 did not vote
Popular en el Congreso185
179 against · 6 did not vote

What happens next

What happens now?

It is law, or will be once published in the BOE. It comes into force on the date its own text sets.

Published in the BOE: Royal Decree-Law 5/2015, of April 30, on urgent measures regarding the marketing of exploitation rights of audiovisual content of professional football competitions.

Sources

Where does all this come from?

  • The data comes from the open files of the Congreso, the Senate and the BOE, unaltered.
  • Each deputy’s province is the one of their seat on the day of the vote.
  • We only say “passed” or “rejected” when the majority needed is certain; otherwise we say which side had more votes.

Read the full method · Report an error