The cash injection will allow Spanish football clubs to remain competitive at home and in Europe while at the same time cleaning up accounts that have been damaged by the pandemic.

Under the agreement, a new company will be created to transfer all of LaLiga's activities to it. CVC Capital Partners will then hold a 10% stake in this company, representing a minority stake. The investment fund will not manage TV rights and LaLiga said it would remain hands-on in dealing with sports competitions as well as in the organisation and management of the marketing of audiovisual rights.

The country's two main clubs, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, are contesting the details of the agreement. The league’s clubs must approve of the deal.

A long-term investment

The investment fund CVC Capital Partners, established in 1981, has invested in sport before. However, the sports sphere represents only four of the 101 investments listed on its website, with a total of $114.8bn in assets. It invested around $1bn in Formula One commercial rights in 2006 before selling its stakes in 2012 and 2016 for an estimated $5bn.

It also recently invested in rugby, notably in the Premiership (English league) by acquiring 27% of the capital or 28% of the company that manages the Pro 14.

Even more recently, CVC invested in volleyball. For a time, it had approached Serie A football (Italy), without success.

CVC Capital Partners has an international network of 24 offices worldwide, including 16 in Europe and the Americas and eight in the Asia-Pacific region.

This article in Paperjam. It has been translated and edited for Delano.