Welcome to issue #026 of Contemporary Football, your inside look at how the game really works behind the scenes.
Monday to Friday, you’ll uncover a new perspective on football business, and sometimes a deeper story that sharpens your thinking and gives you an edge in the beautiful game.
If you need support on your football journey, just write me.
Hey everyone,
Welcome to all the new friends here!
We start the week with many new readers, some from Man U and Bayern, and I feel we’re getting closer to doing a Contemporary Football live call or meet-up.
Let’s see.
A few days ago, I was doing the usual Monday routine.
Emails, spreadsheets, transfer notes.
Coffee number three (1 americano, 1 normal, 1 super short espresso).
While scrolling, I stopped on La Liga’s new media numbers.
€6.1 billion.
Up 9%.
And my first reaction wasn’t “wow”.
It was more like:
“How did they manage this while so many others are struggling?”
Later that evening, I read the interview with Javier Tebas.
And the whole thing became clearer.
What’s actually behind those numbers
Tebas explained it very simply.
Here are the three things that moved the needle:
1. They fought piracy. Seriously.
Not campaigns.
Actual blocking, real-time actions, legal tools.
A 60% reduction is not magic; it’s consistency.
2. They improved the product.
More minutes around the games.
More useful content.
Broadcasters got something they could actually work with.
3. They timed the auction well.
Two years early.
Aligned with UEFA rights.
This avoided competing for budgets.
A basic idea, but it worked.
Execution, not theory.
While others…
They argue.
They postpone decisions.
They protect personal interests.
They let piracy grow.
They assume things will fix themselves.
It’s just how things go when people are not aligned and accountable.
The European picture right now
The Premier League has clubs loaded with debt.
Serie A struggles to move together on anything strategic.
Ligue 1 is trying to survive year to year.
LaLiga is not perfect.
But it’s stable.
And in football, stability is a big competitive advantage.
It gives you space to think.
And to plan.
A sentence that stayed with me
Tebas said:
“We spend money we actually have.”
It’s simple, but it explains a lot.
La Liga clubs spent five times less than Premier League clubs last summer.
Yet they remain competitive.
Not because they are richer.
Because they are governed.
Governance sounds boring, but it works.
What this means for everyone else
If you work in a league or a club, one question matters:
Are we protecting our environment, or exposing it?
LaLiga protects itself.
Other leagues leave themselves open.
My belief is still the same:
Football management should be intense, KPI-driven, and very strict with costs.
The industry is full of noise, dreams, and stories.
But long-term survival comes from basic financial discipline.
Owners and investors are getting tired of seeing losses, losses, and again losses.
What we can learn from LaLiga
The more I read league financials and talk to executives, the more I see the same pattern:
Most problems in football are not complicated.
They’re just ignored for too long.
LaLiga didn’t reinvent anything.
They just did the work that others postpone.
Cut piracy.
Improve the product.
Time decisions well.
Follow the rules.
Do that long enough, and you magically make €6.1 billion.
It simply looks like the result of a league acting like an actual industry.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.
That’s all for today!
See you tomorrow,
Federico