La
Liga has been trying to promote itself overseas by opening marketing
offices in the Far East and hiring a former Netflix executive as its
new head of communications.
The
Spanish
soccer league, whose clubs reign supreme in Europe's biggest
competitions, is staging a counter-attack in the clash for global
reach and riches off the field.
La
Liga has been trying to promote itself overseas by opening marketing
offices in the Far East and hiring a former Netflix executive as its
new head of communications. After losing two of its biggest stars in
consecutive seasons -- first Neymar to France and now Cristiano
Ronaldo to Italy -- President Javier Tebas is considering taking
matches to another country in the way the NFL and NBA play in London.
The U.S. is a likely destination.
“We
would like to do it once or twice a season,” Tebas said in an
interview at his office in Madrid last week. “I’m convinced that
over the next few seasons we will play outside Spain. It’s not easy
because we have fans in Spain, but I hope we can do it in the next
year or two.”
For
all the supremacy of its top clubs -- Spanish teams have won the
Champions League and Europa League nine times out of 10 competitions
over the past five years -- the country plays second fiddle to the
English Premier League when it comes to generating money. Revenue
from broadcasting rights was 1.5 billion euros ($1.8 billion) in the
latest annual report by consulting firm Deloitte, less than half that
of the English league.
But
Spanish revenue is catching up. When Tebas took over in 2013,
broadcast rights were negotiated by individual clubs. Now television
deals are done centrally by the league. Spain has overtaken Germany’s
Bundesliga as the highest revenue generator after the Premier League.
In
the latest round of bidding, Telefonica SA trumped its main rival
Mediapro in June for the lion’s share of broadcast rights, paying
2.9 billion euros for three seasons. The price dropped in the most
recent Premier League deal. “We are bridging the gap,” Tebas
said.
Now
to build on the rapid growth in global rights sales, which Tebas said
have quadrupled to 800 million euros compared with 2013.
The
next phase is to become a larger entertainment brand with a loyal fan
base watching soccer rather than shows on Netflix. That would also
help make it less vulnerable to players defecting to other leagues,
Tebas said. Ronaldo, 33, left Real Madrid for Juventus, though his
perennial rival for the position of La Liga’s biggest star, Lionel
Messi, remains at Barcelona.
“It
would be irresponsible if we didn’t prepare ourselves for when a
player isn’t in the league,” he said. “We are about
entertainment. Our competition isn’t only other soccer leagues, its
other sports, like motorbike racing, and things such as Netflix. Our
biggest rival is the remote control, because people can change
channels.”
Tebas
might also face challenges with his goal of taking league games
abroad. His Premier League counterpart, the departing Richard
Scudamore, couldn’t pull it off. He proposed a similar idea 10
years ago, but withdrew the plan after a backlash from local fans.
European clubs play pre-season tournaments in the U.S. and Asia
instead.
In
the meantime, La Liga’s workforce of about 400 is working on
branding, social media and advertising in offices worldwide,
including South Africa, Singapore and China.
