La Liga clubs are missing a financial trick with the absence of programmes
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PETE JENSON: While Real Madrid and Barcelona are desperately pushing for Super League cash, they’re missing a trick by not selling match-day programmes: you’d think financially stricken LaLiga clubs would be willing to squeeze every euro of the fans.
- Manchester United fans couldn’t buy a program against Barcelona
- Matchday shows are absent in La Liga with away fans limited at games
- The newspapers dedicated to the biggest clubs deny the need for programs
As Real Madrid and Barcelona continue to desperately push their European Super League cash cow; Madrid accept that they will probably be outbid by Jude Bellingham for the richest clubs in the Premier League; and Barca ponder where to cut their wage bill by another €100m this summer, you’d think Spanish clubs would be keen to squeeze every euro out of the match-day kicker.
But despite the apparent financial need, particularly in Barcelona, there is one trick that LaLiga clubs keep missing: there are no matchday programs in Spain.
Clubs like Real Madrid and Getafe hand out free leaflets, but they are usually thrown in the bin next door. Barcelona doesn’t even come close to that, as Manchester United supporters at the Camp Nou will have found out on Thursday night.
There are two main reasons for the absence of programs. One is the scarcity of away fans in most matches. Spain is more than twice the size of England and for a 9:00 pm start to the week, traveling is complicated. But even derby days are not what they are in England because visiting teams receive so few tickets.
Fear of trouble between rival fans is given as an excuse and most clubs have agreements with their neighboring clubs: we won’t let your group into our field and you can do the same for the second leg.
Matchday programs are an established part of English football but are absent in Spain
Manchester United fans would not have been able to buy a program for Thursday’s matchday
The newspapers dedicated to football have denied the need to produce programs: Real Madrid publishes the ‘Grada Blanca’, but now it is only available digitally.
Sevilla does not print a program at all. Real Madrid publishes the ‘Grada Blanca’, an eight-page booklet that is only available in digital format.
The logic about the lack of away fans doesn’t hold up when it comes to a one-legged Spanish Cup match, but the allowances for traveling fans are minimal.
In the last cup quarterfinals, Barcelona gave Real Sociedad just 162 tickets, and Real Madrid gave Atletico Madrid fans just 600.
The second reason is the presence in Spain of various newspapers devoted entirely to soccer. Diario AS and Marca cater mainly to Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid fans, while Mundo Deportivo and Sport cater to Barcelona fans.
Superdeporte offers the same service for supporters of Valencia and the Estadio Deportivo exists for supporters of Betis and Sevilla.
The columns that can appear in the programs of the day have other outlets in Spain that do not exist in England.
And perhaps most importantly, if a fan wants something to remember a certain game from, they simply buy the local sports paper, where the front page and first 10 pages are likely to be devoted solely to the big game.
