Real Madrid and Barcelona have been warned by the La Liga president that they will bankrupt themselves and the Spanish top flight if they press ahead with plans for a European Super League.
Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus have been pushing an alternative to the revamped Champions League which launches at the start of the 2024/25 season. The proposals threaten clubs like Celtic and Rangers and clubs outside the top five leagues over their European future in years to come.
According to a new report by KPMG for LaLiga, Spain’s domestic league would suffer a huge 50% reduction in all revenues if a 'semi-closed' elite league came to the fore. A midweek Super League would take the division's value down to £1.4bn from £2.85bn, but Real and Barca presidents, Florentino Perez and Joan Laporta, remain advocates of a Super League even if attempts to create one collapsed in early 2021. They've been pushing to revive it but talks with UEFA president Alexander Ceferin and various league and FA chiefs, who have been vehemently against it, left the detractors unconvinced.
Now LaLiga president Javier Tebas warns any benefits would be minimal in contrast to their cons. He said: "In the medium term they would lose. They’re earning more but the domestic leagues will lose (revenue) and continue losing, so (Real and Barca) will be losing revenue in the domestic league.
“It might work for the first three years as far as broadcasting rights, but after the third or fourth year the value of their broadcasting rights will really drop and once they realise that it’s going to fall, we will all be bankrupt.
“Madrid and Barcelona have been competing in the league for 90 years. They became big by competing in these competitions. So now, trying to kick the rest (of the clubs) in the a**, I don’t think that’s fair either.
“They are part of this growth because the competition has allowed them to become big clubs.”
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