Courtesy: Real Madrid CF
Ream Madrid C.F. lost a court case against La Liga as the National High Court in Spain ruled its decision in favour of the Spanish top-flight and against the club. Real Madrid CF initiated this procedure in 2016, through the challenge by the white club of the amendments to the Statutes and the General Regulations, which were approved by the Board of Directors of the Superior Council of Sports (CSD) in December 2015. On this occasion, the judge dismisses the claim in its entirety, ordering Real Madrid CF to pay all costs, both to the State Bar and to LaLiga.
Before the collective TV deal was announced, the clubs used to negotiate individually with the league, and naturally, Barcelona and Real Madrid got a huge deal. When they moved to an equitable deal, they had an estimated figure in mind, based on which they got the buy-in from each club (for example: at 1 billion Euros, Real Madrid would get 170 million Euros, Barcelona would get 170 million Euros, and rest would be distributed among the 18 clubs).
The actual revenue was 350 million Euros higher. Madrid argued that instead of distributing it equally it should be distributed to the two clubs – who agreed for the TV deal getting lower amounts than what they would have originally got without the TV deal, and La Liga had no right to distribute it according to what they wanted. With Javier Tebas at the helm, Madrid also feared, that they would get the short end of the stick. The Upper Court just dismissed the lawsuit and the National High Court upheld this decision.
In a statement published by LaLiga, it is highlighted, among the various grounds of the aforementioned judgment, the consideration that “the fact that part of the income (capital gain) obtained comes from the exploitation of the audiovisual rights of Real Madrid CF does not necessarily mean that it must participate in the distribution if, according to an objective and equitable valuation, such as that provided for in the additional provision, the operation gives zero balance in the amount to be received”.