It’s no breaking news that Javier Tebas is no fan of the increasingly bloated club competitions. Now, for the first time, Spain’s league boss is demanding veto rights for the leagues with regard to the status quo.
“No competition should be changed without the consent of all leagues,” “We don’t want any more reforms in European competitions, the Club World Cup, and the regular World Cup without everyone’s approval. We have to see the damage and say: Enough is enough!”
“The pots are like a cake, the distribution plays a role”
Tebas sees the damage primarily in the increased pressure on the national leagues: “Everything that has happened since the 2016 Champions League reform is taking away space and attention from the national leagues. It’s not just about the players, but the entire soccer ecosystem with its schedule and increasingly differentiated media rights.” The Spaniard sees a sum X that the media companies—whether TV stations, streaming services, or radio stations—are willing to pay. The more that flows into UEFA club competitions or FIFA’s inflated Club World Cup, the less remains for the individual leagues and thus the basis of competition: “The pots of the broadcasting platforms are like a cake, and it matters whether it is divided among 10 or 20. The majority of clubs have no access to the new competitions in Europe or the Club World Cup.”
In the eyes of the 63-year-old, the weight has shifted toward the big clubs: “Fifteen years ago, the national leagues were the economic center of soccer.” According to his analysis, they are no longer. This is more than polemic or criticism; it is a systemic diagnosis that describes a historic structural shift toward a super-elite of clubs and players.
“The small and medium-sized leagues are already affected”
“The small and medium-sized leagues are already severely affected,” he warns, citing the Belgian league as an example, whose media revenues have fallen by 20 percent. Although La Liga has been able to defend its position, Germany has grown by just two percent and “in Italy and France, rights revenues have fallen.” A good example is the Swiss league: “The clubs there that participate in the Champions League receive almost 30 million euros, while the next team in the league receives 5 million euros. That makes you lose competitiveness.”
In the long run, this could also threaten the big leagues: “This is a message to the big clubs: This development means you are taking away the income of smaller and medium-sized clubs from the national leagues. But you need competition to get at least the same media money.” A decline resulting from cemented power relations cannot be offset in the long term with money from Europe.
The Spaniard calls on UEFA to take action
But what can be done? Tebas calls on UEFA to take responsibility, focusing in particular on the governance rules with regard to the ECA, the association of major clubs, with which the confederation has a joint venture that essentially determines the system and distribution of funds for UEFA club competitions. “The ECJ has established UEFA as the owner of the club competitions, but UEFA must fulfill one condition: it must ensure competitiveness, including in the national leagues,“ Tebas recalls the European Court of Justice’s Super League ruling. ”So there needs to be a better balance between small, medium, and large clubs. I don’t get the impression that they are trying to find that balance.”