Monaco

Deportivo are owned by a fat man who owes 200k to a restaurant

Deportivo are owned by a fat man who owes 200k to a restaurant
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I didn't know Rafa owner Deportivo.

7, apologies for my silence. It's late now and badly need a rest, but I'll get back here to answer your question tomorrow. Sorting the TV deal is paramount, but there's more to it.

NP

Just don't forget or I will stalk you and abuse you

Deportivo are owned by a fat man who owes 200k to a restaurant
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no wonder lendoiro looks like jabba the hutt

7, revenue sharing aside, the main underlying problem is that Spanish clubs through the entire system have traditionally lived beyond their means, well beyond them in many cases, and that the Spanish authorities systematically turned a blind eye and even bailed them out.

This is true at a national level, especially by allowing them to get away with not paying social security dues, but above all at the regional and local level.

Local politicians have felt it would be tremendously unpopular to let their cities'/towns' clubs go under, so they've repeatedly helped them out in a number of ways, mainly by taking overpriced stakes in the clubs, awarding them ludicrous sponsorship deals or injecting cash in other ways, such as buying their stadiums and then leasing them back out to them for a pittance.

These practices have been endemic in Spanish football for many, many years. By the beginning of the 90s, clubs' debts had become so absolutely unpayable that the government agreed to condone their debt in exchange for a new law whereby clubs would have to drop their historical status as not-for-profit associations (with boards elected directly by the fans) and become PLCs. Exemptions were made for just 4 clubs: Osasuna, which was the only club operating at a profit at the time, and R.Madrid, Barcelona and Athletic Club (Bilbao), which were the only other clubs who had enough assets and revenues to service their debt.

Rather than serve as a lesson, clubs took this measure as a signal that they could continue to operate as they always had done, assuming that they'd be bailed out again when necessary. So, of course, they plunged head first into debt again, especially during the 'golden age' of La Liga which saw the big 2 challenged by a number of far smaller clubs. It was a fantastic era for the football itself, but also the main reason for the current mess.

A second important issue lies with club owners - formerly elected chairmen. The popularity of football meant that many businessmen sought the presidency of their clubs solely to serve as a vehicle that allowed them to mix with politicians and other businesspeople - i.e. as a platform to promote their own business interests. This explains why so many of them came from the construction/real estate sector, which is traditionally the most corrupt business sector in Spain - and probably everywhere else in the world. Inevitably, the backhanders, bribes and exchange of favours that are typical of this sector pervaded football too.

So, while on the surface revenue sharing would appear to be the most obvious explanation, the deeper underlying factors stated above help to better explain the current state of Spanish football.

Fortunately, the crisis has meant that the authorities' money at every level has run dry. Clubs have been told to settle their debts or go out of business. It's going to be tough and traumatic, many will almost surely disappear, and the rest will have to hugely downsize their operations in order to keep afloat, but in the long run it's the only way of building a healthy club football structure. It's already happening, but as I said, the sooner the total collapse happens, the sooner we'll be able to go about rebuilding properly and the more likely the lessons learnt won't be forgotten. That said, this is Spain.

really good points IOAG

I hope if some of the historic clubs go under, like Deportivo and Zaragoza, they re-form and come back

Some certainly will. Zaragoza for example is too big a city not to have a professional football team.

Interesting stuff IOAG thanks for taking the time to write it out....

Makes me laugh reading your post thinking of all the conspiratorial stuff I have read regarding the government and Real Madrid. That is laughing at the conspiracy stuff not your post.

No sweat, 7. It's hard to tell exactly how much of it's true and how much is made up. The conspiracy stuff that is, not my post.