Spanish soccer’s elite LaLiga has continued its post-Covid financial recovery, achieving another year of strong revenue growth across the 2023-24 campaign.
The body, which includes the top-flight LaLiga EA Sports and the second-tier LaLiga Hypermotion, generated €5.049 billion ($5.79 billion) across the campaign, up 3.2% on the €4.9 billion made a season prior.
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This is the first time since the 2019-20 campaign, the last campaign that began before the Covid-19 pandemic, that the league has generated over €5 billion in revenue.
A testament to the league’s commercial strategy, this also marks the second straight campaign where LaLiga generated over €1 billion from commercial sources (sponsorship, licensing, etc), which was the second largest revenue segment after broadcast income (€1.5 billion).
Chief among these is EA Sports, the league’s title sponsor in a deal reportedly worth €30 million annually in a deal running through the 2027-28 campaign. The 2023-24 season was the first year of the deal, which naturally contributed to the commercial revenue growth of the competition, and over coming seasons may further aid the league’s upward trajectory on this front.
One element that was emphasized by LaLiga president Javier Tebas during a presentation surrounding the report was the continued solvency of the league which, despite a slight increase in net debt (up to €1.3 billion), also saw the maintenance of €2.2 billion in net worth across the clubs.
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By GlobalDataLaLiga has projected that, with its current growth trajectory following the covid-19 impacted seasons where revenue dropped drastically, the current 2024-25 campaign could improve further, with the league aiming to “breakeven” in the upcoming campaign.
The continued strength of the league’s broadcast business has come, in part, due to the revamped production introduced at the beginning of the 2023-24 campaign.
In 2024 LaLiga explained to Sportcal how this new presentation is helping the league drive commercialization, and at the financial results presentation, Tebas responded to a Sportcal question on the topic, suggesting that the quality of the LaLiga offering is aiding in the league’s continued fight against broadcast piracy, which he added is one of the league’s most pressing issues.
This revamped broadcast outlook also aids in the commercial segment by the value it adds to LaLiga’s relationship with its sponsors, which LaLiga head of content Roger Brosel explained in 2024, saying: “When it comes to the match broadcast, what sponsors appreciate the most is the flexibility that we have in not only offering them visibility, which is now floor zero of an agreement, but they want to have more content and be able to be integrated into how the viewers connect with that.
"That's why [we utilize] all the EA Sports graphics, and they appreciate that so much because it's not only splashing the logo on the screen, which is great, but it's adding a layer where the sponsor is part of the game, like in the lineups, for example.
“Microsoft is another partner, sponsoring [the league’s statistics initiative] Beyond Stats. All the spectacular graphics with app-specific data are sponsored by Microsoft, so it made sense for them to not only receive visibility, but be incorporated in the match broadcast in an original way that is meaningful for fans.”
The 2023-24 campaign saw the continuation of LaLiga’s Impulso project, which has delivered investment to its constituent club in exchange for commercial gains on their end, and over the coming years the league expects to continue reaping dividends from the growing international visibility of its product at club level, as well as expanded gate receipts and matchday earnings.
As stated in the report, 2023-24 saw record total attendances of over 16 million across the season, with stadiums on average over 75% full as clubs continue to attempt to maximize revenue generation in the category that was perhaps most affected by Covid-19, as well ass rising ticket prices.
Tebas commented: “After the pandemic, we said it would take four or five years to recover the Covid losses, and that has been the case.
"Taking away the effects of last year's levers, which distorted the total numbers, you can see that we are a sustainable league."
