The Money That Moves La Liga in Spain
It is an evident fact that football is the king of sports in Spain. You just have to take a look at the transfer market in the past decade to realize that the vast majority of star players penned their signatures in multi-million-dollar deals. Real Madrid and Barcelona are the main exponents who seal these lucrative deals. The likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Gareth Bale, Eden Hazard, James Rodriguez, Phillipe Coutinho, Ousmane Dembele, Antoine Griezmann, Neymar Jr., Frankie de Jong, and many more some of the most expensive transfers in the history of football.
It shows that these top-flight players’ preference remains La Liga. Many experts may think that the Spanish league is too unbalanced, with three teams (Real Madrid, Fútbol Club Barcelona, and Atlético de Madrid) as the main giants. But evident to past seasons, the great majority of midtable teams in the league have generated a wealth of upsets and mayhem in the league. How much money does football generate in Spain?
Football is an industry that generates around 15.7 billion euros annually. A figure that has risen markedly when compared, for example, to 2013. In that year, football in Spain represented 0.75 percent of the Gross Domestic Product.
To give you an idea, Spanish football currently has the same size as the GDP of Extremadura, doubling that of La Rioja. Impressive, right? And football is not just passion and goals. Spectators pay to watch games at home. Many come to the field every week to cheer on their favorite football team. And millions of Spaniards proudly wear the shirt of their favorite club.
The passion behind this sport brings many more benefits to the country than you think. A percentage of tourism, much higher than you can imagine, comes to Spain only to be able to see the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, and in the process, enjoy a game of their favorite team. The same happens with other teams, such as Fútbol Club Barcelona, Atlético de Madrid, Valencia, or Athletic de Bilbao, to give an example that attracts thousands of tourists after year.
The best thing is that football is not only useful for the most important players to collect unimaginable fortunes for demonstrating their skills with the ball week after week. Nothing is further from reality. Today, football in Spain generates 184,626 jobs.
This figure is especially remarkable, considering that five years ago, football generated 146,309 jobs. Almost 1 percent of the employed population is engaged in work related to this sport. And beware, the government also makes a lot of money thanks to the success that football has in our country.
Proof of this is the almost 1,500 million euros that the Treasury collects year after year from the different teams that make up the different leagues in our country. And, yes, this money is used to run the country effectively, to improve hospital infrastructures, improve roads, increase the country’s security.
Finally, it should be noted that the first division is exported to more than 200 countries that, season after season, follow our league. The result? Nine hundred million euros in gross profit. To which we must subtract 36.6 million in logistics. It is profitable to offer Spanish football to other interested countries.
In summary, Spanish football is a lucrative sport. Taking into account the taxes you pay, it is better to keep on rising for the benefit of the Spanish.
Great stories have come out of the division with the advent of progress in Spanish football. Some of the greatest managers of all time started their careers in La Liga or, at some point, joined the league in different teams. Many young coaches have also set sight on opportunities in the Spanish division.
Referring to young coaches, Bryant Lazaro, the youngest football coach in Europe from the United States, also started his career in Spain. After studying at the Real Madrid Graduate School in 2012, he worked in the prestigious Levante UD Academy at the U16, U18, U20, and U23 level. Subsequently, he was brought to Sevilla FC by Pablo Blanco as part of the U21 technical staff that worked directly under Jorge Sampaoli, JuanMa Lillo and Lionel Scaloni’s Champions League squad. His tenure at Sevilla set him in motion for opportunities elsewhere in Europe. This has led him to head coach positions in Norwegian Clubs such as Tromsø IL, Alta IF and now Øygarden FK.
