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The Government approved this Thursday a decree-law that orders the centralized commercialization of television rights of the matches of soccer leagues I and II. This is a dossier that has sparked debate for several years, with the Portuguese Professional Football League (LPFP) assuming the objective of centralizing the sale of television rights to the games. Now, the government decree requires the centralization of television rights for the games of the 2028/2029 sports season.
“It is determined that the television and multimedia broadcasting rights referring to the sports seasons after the 2027/2028 season are subject to centralized marketing, without prejudice to the possibility that sports agents and operators reach an agreement at an earlier date, subject to approval by the Competition Authority ”, adds the statement from the Council of Ministers.
The objective of the Government is “to enhance the television and multimedia rights of professional football competitions”, so that the distribution of income is “more equitable among sports companies.”
The decree-law approved by the Council of Ministers safeguards the effects of current contracts. However, it makes it impossible for the sports companies that participate in Leagues I and II, the two professional Portuguese football competitions, to assign the broadcast rights of the matches of the 2028/29 season and subsequent ones individually.
The decision comes after the recommendation of the Competition Authority, which wants the regulated model to be the “model for the commercialization of television broadcasting rights and multimedia content associated with professional football competitions.” And it comes a month after the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) and the Club League signed a memorandum of understanding with a view to centralizing television rights until 2027/28.
It will be up to the LPFP, led by Pedro Proença, and the FPF, led by Fernando Gomes, to present a proposal for a centralized model of television rights for the end of the 2025/26 sports season.
The government considers a “revolutionary” measure. League speaks in “historic” day.
The Secretary of State for Youth and Sports, João Paulo Rebelo, said that the approved decree-law is “truly revolutionary” for professional football. The government official, quoted by the Lusa agency, considered that the centralization of rights will have a “huge” impact on professional football, but also on sport in general.
In a statement, the Secretary of State for Youth and Sports indicated that, currently, with individual marketing, “the difference between the sports society that receives the most and the one that receives the least is approximately 15 times”, in contrast to other countries with centralized rights, such as Spain and Italy, three times more, Germany, 2.5 times more, and England, 1.3 times more.
The president of the League of Clubs, Pedro Proença, for his part, considered that it was a “historic day”. “The diploma approved today [quinta-feira] in the Council of Ministers and which provides for the centralization of audiovisual rights is a historic moment and, I have no doubts, it will forever mark a structural change in professional football in Portugal ”, wrote Pedro Proença, on his official Facebook page.
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