Preface

Pedro Proença

Chairman Liga Portugal The centralization of audiovisual rights is an inevitable path for the Portuguese Professional Football. In fact, as we have been defending this since our arrival. To the most distracted this might have seemed an obsessive goal. However, the time and the Government have confirmed our perspective: we were on the right path.

This study published in a partnership between Liga Portugal and EY explains why the centralization of audiovisual rights must become a reality. Portugal cannot proclaim itself as part of the European football front row, and even try to approach and overtake the 5th place in the UEFA rankings (currently belonging to France), with the mindset of the second and third tier organizations in terms of European football attractiveness, as is the case of Cyprus – the other country without centralized rights. If we consider the five main European leagues regarding notoriety and wealth, we observe that since 2014-15, three registered a growth trend in terms of revenues generated by the audiovisual rights. Premier League is at the top of this group with 3.01 billion euros, a value established since 2019-20. Ligue 1 and LaLiga – where the centralization has also been implemented by Decree – are on also an upward trend. Serie A and Bundesliga have registered slight revenue changes but will finish the next season with revenues around 1.30 billion euros. This is the maturity level that we want to achieve in Portuguese football, aiming that everyone, without exception, becomes a winner. As an example, the giants Barcelona and Real Madrid, just to mention millionaire clubs from a League with whom we work directly – have now the understanding that they have benefited from the centralization process. Nothing will be different in Portugal. Liga Portugal and FPF working together as a group, will certainly know how to defend the interests of those who truly matter, the Clubs.

Miguel Farinha

Partner and Leader of Strategy and Transactions at EY The centralization of audiovisual rights will be a powerful tool for the development of the internal and external competitiveness of the Portuguese Professional Football. International case studies show that the centralization of audiovisual rights was a critical success factor for the hegemony of the main European leagues

It is with great satisfaction that EY presents the International Study on Audiovisual Sports Rights. The aim of our study is to strengthen the information and knowledge available regarding the processes of audiovisual rights centralization. The objective is to support those who, in the future, will be responsible for the commercialization, in the selection of a model that will maximize its value and, consequently, the value of the Portuguese professional football leagues. Our report shows that the Portuguese football league is the only one among the most important European professional football leagues, where the centralization of audiovisual rights is not yet in place. The absence of a centralized strategy has been reflected negatively in the level of the internal competitions and in the competitiveness of local clubs in the international competitions, which display an important role in the club’s financial capacity. The analysis of the main professional leagues leads to the conclusion that the centralization of audiovisual rights leads to a significant increase in the added value generated by football. The centralization model was a critical success factor for the hegemony of the main European leagues. Besides higher revenues, it promotes an equitable distribution, while it rewards sports performance and generates a greater investment capacity, enabling the clubs and the league to reinforce its competitive conditions and international reach. There are also other benefits and critical externalities, which increase the sport content quality and economic value, more specifically, a greater capacity to adjust content to the consumer’s demand, more consistency in the communication and brand management, and a higher ability to fight piracy.

Technical Note: This study is an independent work performed by EY and commissioned by Liga Portugal. It aims to provide information to support the audiovisual rights centralization process, mentioned in the Decree-Law n.º 22-B/2021, which is expected to be implemented in the 2028-2029 seasons. The benchmarking of the models implemented in the main professional football leagues has the purpose to provide support and basis for the definition of the model to be implemented in the Portuguese professional leagues.