The employers’ association alerts the clubs to the proposal put forward by the promoters of the “failed” Superliga project.
Tebas: “This is yet another attempt to break consensus and generate uncertainty to safeguard the selfish interests of a few. “
MADRID, 3 Dec. (Cinktank.com) –
LaLiga called a “conceptual approach” the “sustainable project” promoted by Athletic Club, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid as an alternative to LaLiga Impulso, and warned professional clubs that it is a ” debt transaction ”which would mortgage their audiovisual rights for the next 25 years.
In a letter sent by the president of LaLiga, to which Europa Press had access, to professional clubs, after the one sent previously by Athletic, Barça and Madrid, Javier Tebas stressed that the latter “is not a proposal binding or indicative ”for funding by JP Morgan, Bank of America and HSBC.
“This is just a conceptual approach from a boutique called Key Capital, which worked on the failed Superliga project, and it is not signed off by banks or investors,” said Tebas, who has denounced an alternative presented “in a very biased” and “financially inaccurate” manner.
For the president of LaLiga, they present a project “which is not directly comparable” to LaLiga Impulso, because Proyecto Sostenible “is a debt operation” with a fixed return for lenders who, unlike the private equity fund CVC , are not involved in the project.
In this regard, LaLiga sources told Europa Press that FC Barcelona and Athletic Club have stated that they are not interested in indebtedness, but rather in receiving capital, such as those offered in the sustainable project they presented with Real Madrid. “It’s hard to understand why they are offering for other clubs what they don’t want for theirs,” they said.
On the other hand, Tebas alerted clubs to the fact that the figures presented are intended to “distort” the message, by comparing the current investment of CVC funds with the cumulative cash flow accumulated over 50 years, assuming ” very aggressive growth assumptions ”and“ ignoring the time value of money ”.
In an optimistic scenario, they assume cumulative annual growth of 10%, which means LaLiga television rights would be worth more than € 193 billion in 50 years. “This would mean that they would have been multiplied by 107, while the GDP would have been multiplied by 3.4”, he compared.
In this “impossible scenario,” Tebas said, CVC would earn 168,639 million euros, but clubs would have earned almost 2 billion (1,875,595 million), or 20% of Spain’s current GDP. “This comparison alone disqualifies any other aspect of this report, as it is not a serious analysis of the possible alternatives, it is just an attempt to destroy the future of the competition and of the clubs in order to develop their project. Superliga, ”he added.
In addition, the Proyecto Sostenible is subject to the individual consent of the club’s creditors, while LaLiga Impulso, unanimously approved by the LaLiga delegate committee, is not, as CVC funds are paid to the association. management and this transfers them to the clubs.
In addition, this project involves, according to LaLiga, the transfer of 100% of the television rights to another company which has a preferential right and the clubs lose control over it for 25 years.
“LA LIGA IMPULSO IS NOT A FUNDING PROJECT”.
LaLiga Impulso “is not a financing project”, designed with the advice of companies of “the greatest prestige and the greatest reputation”, with a “solid structure” and which allows the incorporation of CVC as a partner,
with a great experience in the sporting and technological field thanks to its alliance with Formula 1 and MotoGP.
LaLiga is experiencing a sharp drop in the number of television subscribers in Spain, as new entertainment platforms (Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney +, HBO) reach a record number of subscribers. A business transformation is therefore necessary to reverse the trend and ensure future growth.
For LaLiga, this transformation can only be done with a long-term capital which allows to invest, and not with a debt which “further suffocates” the financial situation of the clubs.
The Proyecto Sostenible is “a new attempt to break the consensus and generate uncertainty to safeguard the selfish interests of the few against the benefit of the majority”, according to the letter to Tebas clubs, which denounces the fact that “They’re trying to derail” LaLiga Impulso.
“Let us not forget that this letter is directed by the president of Real Madrid who, just six months ago, declared that we were ‘ruined’, that our matches were not interesting and that it was inevitable that the audiovisual rights of our competition fall. The purpose of this letter is none other than to generate uncertainty in order to affect the operation that we will vote on on the 10th ”, concluded the president of LaLiga.
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