🎙️ Tebas: “Fans in the US pay too, they suffer just like everyone else

Javier Tebas, president of LALIGA, took part on Tuesday morning in the ‘Expansión & Marca Business Sport Forum’ to share his business perspective on Spain’s top football division.

Comparisons with the Premier League, financial control, and the possible league match in Miami were the main focus of the president’s speech.

In light of the growing comparisons between LaLiga and the economically powerful Premier League, Tebas prefers to compare with the Bundesliga. “The business figures for LaLiga and the Bundesliga are very similar; we’re both around 4 billion euros in revenue,” he explains.

“The Premier doesn’t earn double, but let’s say it does for argument’s sake. Logically, if LaLiga spends 700, the Premier should spend 1,400. But in the last seven seasons, the Premier has always spent much more than double,” he points out.

According to Tebas, the Premier League “is being intervened by the Government.”

“If we want, we can end financial control and in three years we’ll be back to where we were in 2012,” Tebas reflected, emphasizing the players who have come to the league’s top clubs, without mentioning the realities of the rest of the competitors in his speech.

“Antony is a great player; United bought him for 100 and he arrived at Betis for 20 million euros. Atlético signed Julián Alvarez last year, and we’re keeping important players like Lamine Yamal, Gavi, Pedri, and Madrid is bringing in great players.”

“I like to compare myself with Germany, which is a much stronger country than Spain. With Italy as well, and we’re above them.”

Tebas believes that the main shortcoming of Spanish football is the hospitality seating in stadiums. “We have about 600 million less in revenue than the Premier League there. That’s where we’re working with the clubs, hence the CVC project and stadium renovations,” he analyzed.

Tebas admits that the project for a Barça-Villarreal match in Miami is still moving forward, pending UEFA’s approval.

“Fans in the United States also pay to watch Spanish football, they also suffer watching their team win, they also celebrate or buy merchandise. A match on another continent can help our brand grow,” he explained.

For Tebas, defending traditional football, being more sensitive to the fans in the stands, is “sectarian.” “We’ve expanded the virtual stands to the whole world. Or are there no Barça fans in Miami? Aren’t they fans too?”

Finally, the main executive of LALIGA announced that the stock market entry of some Spanish clubs is inevitable. “The arrival of investment funds is the step before the fund goes public.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.