Is the Premier League Outshining La Liga?

With the start of the new Champions League campaign, one of the topics that has frequented Spanish commentary and blogs is – Is the Premier League outshining La Liga? Is La Liga are 2nd Tier League? (I don’t want to go there, but the same Spanish rags claim that Serie A is a retirement league and will get worse should Ibra or Kaká leave.)

OK, the yahoos from the Spanish rages, exaggerate, freak out and love high drama. They need to fill up their dailies and create news. But it’s been awhile since a La Liga team has won the Champions League, Spanish clubs are in debt, and people are worried.

Does the Prem brand better than La Liga? Is the Prem moving towards the NBA mega-sensation and is La Liga far behind? C’mon, La Liga still shows their games at 10pm at nite. This is not conducive to Asia and the the other foreign markets. Do the Spanish teams do a good job of promoting themselves overseas other than the Big Two? Look, Everton has been coming to the US every year and West Ham came over to play this past year. Pompey went to China. These teams are spreading the Prem love and they are NOT the Big Four. Is La Liga doing enough to earn fans and sell shirts? We have the best fútbol, shouldn’t that be enough?

Also what about the provincial, club media deals? Is this archaic? Is a league-wide agreement as used in England, more conducive to a strong league?

Deportivo La Coruña’s President has said that the future of Spanish football is foreign investment? Do you agree?

Here’s my two cents, I think Spain can learn a lot from the Premiership, particularly the media deals and distribution of wealth (even though the richer clubs still get more money due to more appearances on TV and attendances). I also adore the parachute package for teams promoted and relegated. Spain needs something like this drastically. I also think the branding can improve of La Liga, but in moderation. The league as a whole should try and assist in this matter. Why don’t they produce and offer Friday preview shows in Spanish? Why aren’t some of the Spanish football opinion shows made available, with dubbing or translation to foreign markets?

The infrastructure and organization in Spain needs vast improvement. Why are the games decided sometimes 3 hours before kickoff? How is that conducive to coach potato fans? The technology, camera angles, and TV picture, needs to get to the 21st century. The visuals are appalling. Have you ever compared a Prem or CL game to a La Liga game. The La Liga game pales in comparison.

We need access to more La Liga games on TV or via broadband. Why not offer the other games at a more moderate price? It’s difficult for Spaniards to watch non local games, let alone foreigners. This has got to improve. Also access to kits, merchandise, magazines, daily rags would be awesome. Do you know how hard it is to find an Athletic Bilbao kit?

But I like the provincial nuances and local flavor of La Liga and I for one, don’t want them to lose this. The play on the pitch is amazing, along with the parity and strength of the mid table teams. The cantera or youth academies keep producing wonderful talent. And there are players that are loyal or don’t want to go abroad – see Cazorla, Villa, Silva, Casillas. I don’t want foreign investment to come in and ruin La Liga or great an artificial market. We don’t need billionaires, just better marketing and business savvy. The Spanish owners already do a fine job sticking their clubs in the red. I also feel that the last remaining socio clubs, need to stay that way – Real Madrid, Barçelona, Athletic Bilbao, etc. It keeps accountability.

But where there is talent on the pitch and in the back office ie managers and technical directors, some will want to go abroad where the money is IE England. But I am not worried about the level of play or the trophies, to me it’s all cyclical. The money is in the Prem, but that is a bubble that will burst and a recalibration or reallignment will take place. The Premiership will not always be at the top. Relax.

And honestly I don’t want a super league. I don’t want to watch just the top leagues or the same teams always winning. That’s boring and not what football is all about. We already have the Champions League, World Cup and other tournaments where the cream of the crop rise to the top. Isn’t that enough?

OK, those are my thoughts, but I want to hear from you. What do you think? Give us your comments and we’ll read them on the podcast. We’d love to hear from you. It’s a fascinating topic, that won’t go away.