laSexta accused of owing Mediapro €54 million in football rights

Iñaki Ferreras | 24-08-2012

Just as the Spanish football season kicks off, and on the eve of a thrilling Supercopa first leg between Real Madrid and Barcelona, Mediapro is in dispute with laSexta over €54 million worth of rights pertaining to the previous football season.

Despite the global reputation of the aforementioned giants, Spanish football has not been the goldmine some regard it as with some independent broadcasters plainly admitting that they either cannot afford to screen the most popular games, or, said Alex Martinez Roig, director of Canal+ content, not willing to pay "enough money".

Making this situation even worse are reports from sources close to the League suggesting that laSexta still owes Mediapro €54 million for the rights of the season 2011/12, some debts in addition to delays in payments of some regional. This situation would have led the Catalan production to meet timely payments not some football teams, the same sources explained.
In this regard, President of Athletic Bilbao, Josu Urrutia, said that the debt for TV operator Mediapro with Atlético Madrid and "exceeds ten million" euros. In turn, President of the Royal Society, Jokin Aperribay, sued for unpaid production to the tune of €8 million, a situation that was repeated with the Zaragoza and some club.

laSexta, which is still pending merger with Antena 3, is going through a very delicate economic times. The chain headed by José Contreras ended 2011 with a loss of €61 million and by June 2012 advertising revenues had fallen by 33.6% to €95 million. These funding problems forced the chain to get rid of the rights of Formula 1 in February, for which it had committed €87.5 million in two years.