The Spanish Moneyball

No football enthusiast is unaware of the magic La Liga has created in the recent past. With clubs like
Real Madrid and FC Barcelona grabbing eyeballs the world over and the el Classico turning into one of the most awaited football fixtures on the planet. And not just this, these clubs are turning on the heat at the world stage, making it to the Semis of the biggest club championships in history. Other Spanish clubs like Atletico Madrid, Valencia and Athletic Bilbao were also in the final four of the Europa League. A glittering road ahead for Spanish football? Think again…

The Premier League remains the most debt heavy league in the world but atleast it’s economic model  is more favourable to all clubs ,with it’s multi billion TV deal with Sky being distributed fairly equally.However ,the La Liga TV deals are signed separately  with Madrid and Barcelona getting the lion’s share and thus sustaining their wild finances. Barcelona and Real Madrid make up €1.2 billion (£1 billion/$1.7 billion) of the debt alone, though they also take in half of the €600 million (£520 million/$862 million) the Spanish league generates in overall TV revenue each year.
Clubs such as Rayo Vallecano,Granada and Real Malloraca have been in and out of administration for so long that their financial model is inherently unstable.Matches are scheduled at odd times for the remaining clubs so that Madrid and Barcelona can have the world watch their El Classicos and marvel at the most expensive players money can buy without noticing the incredible dysfunctionality that has brought them to Spain.Contrast this with the Bundesliga,where Bayern Munich lent Borussia Dortmund money to stave off administration.With the Financial Fair Play looming large,it remains to be seen what is the way forward.
While clubs like Barca and Real are raising the bar in terms of football quality, their finances are
in deep trouble. They have a combined debt of 11,617 million euros which is far more than their
revenue of 929 million. This affects the overall economy of Spain where we have 23% of the
population unemployed.

Not only the Spanish economy, but smaller clubs in La Liga also feel the heat. The remaining from
the top 5 have had to sell their star players to reduce their debts. And this transfer pressure is clearly
visible in the points table. Barca was behind Real by a narrow margin of 4 points. But the No. 3 team,
Valencia were 39 points behind the champs. These two clubs are buying the big players form all
other leagues to strengthen their squad. You can look at Ronaldo and Fabregas from the EPL, Kaka
and Ibrahimovic from Serie A, Shain from Bundesliga.

This summer, Real and Barcelona have spent more money on players for their B teams than half
of the league has on players for their first teams. The new path for players in Spain now seems
to be either be a part of the big two or leave Spain altogether. And you can look at a lot of recent
examples. Cazorola departed to Arsenal, Michu from Rayo to Swansea City, Mata departed form
Valencia to Chelsea. The trend is obvious. The effects, far reaching. Spanish league is now turning
into a two horse chariot. As these two keep on getting better, the remaining struggle just to stay on
solid ground.