Madrid, Barcelona offer on TV revenue rejected

Real Madrid and Barcelona have offered other first-division teams a greater share of revenue from TV broadcast rights but at least two major clubs say the proposal is insufficient, the country’s football league said Wednesday.

Representatives of the 20-team division met Tuesday to discuss a more equitable way to divide future income but league spokesman Juan Carlos Santamaria said they failed to reach agreement.

He said the clubs had agreed to meet again Oct. 22.

Clubs currently negotiate TV rights worth some €600 million annually on an individual basis, with Madrid and Barcelona taking about half. This system expires in 2014 and other clubs are now demanding a fairer deal as of that year.

"The clubs let Real Madrid and Barcelona know they weren’t happy and that although they recognized these two clubs were the best and raised the value of the Spanish league, the league was more than just two teams," Santamaria said.

In the meeting Tuesday, Real Madrid and Barcelona jointly proposed they should get 34 percent of the total, Atletico Madrid and Valencia 11 percent and 55 percent for the rest.

But Sevilla and Villarreal, backed by a handful of other clubs, are demanding more. They have suggested dividing 40 percent among the 20 clubs and the remaining 60 percent according to each team’s performance.

In a bid to guarantee that no club should get less than what it earns now, the clubs also discussed raising the total value of the TV rights from the current ?600 million to some ?900 million.

"There’s a strong willingness to reach an accord but this is complicated and there’s a long way to go," Santamaria said, adding that a final agreement was not expected at the next meeting.

Santamaria said the discussions are aimed at bringing the Spanish league in line with those of England, Italy and France.