No more big-money signings as broadcasters forced to scale back, says Mediapro boss Roures

The days of European clubs spending hundreds of millions on transfers are over with television companies set to scale back on their investments in football, according to Jaume Roures, chief executive of Spanish media company Mediapro.

Mediapro could prove a key player in clubs surviving the financial crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic after it snapped up most of the domestic rights for France's Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 for four years starting next season in a total deal worth a record 1.153 billion euros (USD 1.25 billion) annually.

The Chinese-owned company also has rights to show La Liga matches in pubs and bars in Spain, despite its deal as the league's principal broadcaster ending two years ago.

The likes of Sky Sports and BT Sport, the English Premier League's domestic broadcasters in the UK, and Sky in Germany, will be watching with interest to see how Mediapro handles its contract due to begin in France in August. It has not yet even set up a channel.

In an exclusive interview with AFP, Roures insisted the agreement already in place with French clubs "will not change" but was more sceptical about the sums broadcasters will be able to spend on new deals in future.

"The amounts spent on rights, in general, had reached the maximum already," Roures said.

"It's obvious that TV rights will be affected by this."
"All that will change and I think it's very positive. I never agreed with clubs paying 140, 160 million euros for a football player. It will be very positive for society in general and for the clubs' finances in particular."
- 'Audiences will be better' -
"Maybe we will have to play behind closed doors, maybe bars and restaurants will be closed until I don't know when, but people will need, or at least want, to see football as soon as possible. For the moment, we don't see the need to change anything."