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The 0-2 against La Serena was a devastating blow for Colo Colo. For many fans, the defeat not only meant that a direct rival for permanence lost six points, but mentally the team was dejected, as if his head were already resigned to an unprecedented trip to Primera B, the worst affront in the club’s 95 years.
Mathematically the team still has a chance to save itself. There are 12 dates left and Gustavo Quinteros’s pupils can add a maximum of 36 units. However, after almost two-thirds of the championship, he adds just 18 and faces a very tough fixture, with duels with the top three of the table in the next three games (Unión Española, Universidad Católica and La Calera). Thus, the task of saving the category becomes increasingly difficult.
A decline would imply, a priori, a significant economic decline. For example, due to the transmission of matches in the First Division, The Soccer Channel pays the albos about $ 360 million a month. While the B teams, the figure does not exceed $ 85 million. At the dealership, it is an issue that is looked at askance and, in the event of the decline, there are voices calling for the quota to be maintained, due to the popularity of the team and the number of potential subscribers that seeing the Cacique would generate in the silver division of Chilean soccer. In addition, the contest would be promoted in the media, while the First tournament would lose its most popular actor, generating an inverse effect.
The concern is evident. In fact, in a year where losses they are already rising for $ 1,575 millionOne of the few notable points of the last balance was the strong increase in advertising and television rights for having qualified for the Copa Libertadores. For next year, with a decrease or not, these revenues will not be, since it is practically impossible, except winning the increasingly in doubt Chile Cup, to enter the continental contest. The contract with Adidas, for almost US $ 24 million, and the link with Cervecería AB InBev, for another US $ 4 million, would give the institution some momentary respite.
Another economic adjustment would have to do with player contracts. In First B it would be unfeasible to maintain a payroll that borders $ 650 million per month and salaries exceeding $ 25 million of which many are still part of existing ties, such as the case of the Argentine Nicolás Blandi, who receives a salary that is increased by the $ 45 million. In that case, the exodus would be massive and the sports restructuring would be complete, which could also imply resignations and compensation, creating an even more complex panorama.
From a direct point of view, a decline would be catastrophic and the Black and White table would also undergo a profound reengineering, beyond what is already being studied for next year. This potential sports catastrophe could cause an uncertain stock market effect on the already devalued alba share. In any case, there are no clauses that annul the concession for sporting results, so a scenario of this type does not ensure that the questioned model of the public limited company will change.
The most recent antecedent of a team with such a massive traction in the second category of national football is that of Universidad de Chile. The blues played all season 89, of which they were titled champions, suffering a lot at the beginning due to their null habit in the series. Iberia, General Velásquez, Linares and Colchagua were some of the rivals that the students visited. Overflowing fields and with minimal security measures received the team led by Luis Ibarra and Leonel Sánchez.
Thirty-one years later, most of the First B stadiums are remodeled thanks to the Bicentennial Project. Very few teams play in venues that are not modernized. Thus, casts such as Magallanes, Santiago Morning or San Felipe would have to find where to receive the albos, if it was played with an audience.
Of the 15 teams that compete for the promotion championship, all of them have faced the albos at some time in their history. Although there are some who for many years have not crossed the path of Macul’s painting. One of them is Magellan, a club from which Colo Colo split in 1925 and which he officially faced for the last time in the 1992 Chile Cup. On May 2 of that year they equaled 2-2 at the Monumental Stadium. While Deportes Valdivia, very complicated with permanence, is the squad with which it has taken the longest to measure itself. Their last duel was a 0-0 in the Municipal Park on December 30, 1989, for the First Division tournament.
Next year a new member will be added from the Second Division. Nowadays, the favorite to move up is Lautaro de Buin, leader of the championship with 29 points and one game less. His bodyguards are Fernández Vial (25) and Deportes Recoleta (23). Of those three teams, the Cacique has never formally faced the two from the Metropolitan Region.
This and much more is what Colo Colo risks in case of losing the category for the first time in its history. However, there are still 12 finals left and the hope of the coaching staff and their players to reverse one of the most difficult situations that their fans can remember.
