Executive: TV Rights Law to Improve Competitiveness in Spain

A Spanish football marketing executive says a new collective bargaining arrangement for TV rights will boost finances of poorer clubs and give them a better shot against giants Barcelona and Real Madrid in buying players.

A law approved in Spain last week regulates rights to transmit first and second division games, replacing individual deals struck by clubs, starting in 2016.

Mario Bayarri Ceruelo of Mediapro, a company that markets Spanish football abroad, told a regional SoccerEx conference Monday that the change is meant to "give more opportunity to smaller clubs to go to the transfer market and to be more competitive."

He says rich clubs will have to work harder for new talent although Barcelona and Real Madrid still make more money from sponsorship deals than TV rights.