The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has revealed its revamped model for Spanish women’s soccer, with Iberdrola also expanding and extending its title sponsorship deal with the domestic game for a further six years.
The top flight will be entitled Primera Iberdrola, while the second division will now be known as the Reto Iberdrola.
The Spanish energy company first took on its title deal for the domestic women’s top tier ahead of the 2016/17 season and has now agreed to extend that through the 2024/25 campaign. The new deal covers the second division, as well as the Copa de la Reina and Supercopa de España cup competitions.
The financial details of the arrangement have not been made public, but Spanish business outlet Palco23 reports that the deal will see a minimum €1 million (US$1.1 million) a year collected by the RFEF.
Iberdrola’s president Ignacio Galán told the Spanish press that the deal reaffirmed his company's role “as the main supporter of women's sport”.
The federation and the elite clubs agreed some months ago to restructure the competition to improve the overall standard, with the RFEF’s new model requiring that competitors must have at least three grassroots teams, either directly connected to them or affiliated.
Clubs in the top flight must also now print player names on their shirts in a move to raise the profile of the league's stars.
The new Primera Iberdrola is made up of 16 clubs, which is the same as last season’s top tier, with the Reto Iberdrola now comprised of 32 teams split into two groups.
The announcement comes shortly after the commercial court of Madrid ruled that the RFEF could not force the 13 members of the Association of Women's Soccer Clubs (ACFF) to cede the TV rights deal they signed with Mediapro back in March worth €9 million over three seasons in order to join the Primera Iberdrola.
Barcelona, Athletic Club Bilbao and CD Tacon, the women’s club bought by Real Madrid, sit outside that deal and will distribute their home matches via their own channels.
“We’ve made an effort and we want to improve towards equality,” RFEF president Luis Rubiales told Spanish media. “Games will be played on Saturdays and Sundays, with nothing on Fridays or Mondays. The players will wear their names on their shirts, the games will have fourth officials and all clubs are obliged to have three youth sides.”
There is growing interest in women’s football in Spain. A crowd of 60,739 watched Barcelona beat Atlético Madrid 2-0 at the Wanda Metropolitano in March, the highest-recorded crowd for a domestic women’s game in Europe, beating the previous best set at Bilbao’s San Mames in January.
The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has revealed its revamped model for Spanish women’s soccer, with Iberdrola also expanding and extending its deal with the elite domestic game for a further six years.
The top flight will be entitled Primera Iberdrola, while the second division will now be known as the Reto Iberdrola.
The Spanish energy company first took on its title deal for the domestic women’s top-tier ahead of the 2016/17 season and has now to extend that through the 2024/25 campaign. That deal now covers the second division; as well the Copa de la Reina and Supercopa de España cup competitions. Spanish business outlet Palco23 reports that the deal will see a minimum €1 million a year collected by the RFEF.
Iberdrola’s president Ignacio Galán told the Spanish press that the deal reaffirmed his company's role “as the main supporter of women's sport”.
The federation and the elite clubs agreed some months ago to restructure the competition to improve the overall standard, with the RFEF’s new model requiring that competitors must have at least three grassroots teams, either directly connected to them or affiliated.
Clubs in the top-flight must also now print the names of the players on their shirts in a move to raise the profile of the players.
The new Primera Iberdrola is made up of 16 clubs, which is the same as last season’s top tier, with the Reto Iberdrola now comprised of 32 teams split into two groups.
The announcement comes shortly after the commercial court of Madrid ruled that the RFEF could not force the 13 members of the Association of Women's Soccer Clubs (ACFF) to cede the TV rights deal they signed with Mediapro back in March worth €9 million over three seasons in order to join the Primera Iberdrola.
Barcelona, Athletic Club Bilbao and CD Tacon, the women’s club bought by Real Madrid, sit outside that deal and will distribute their home matches via their own channels.
“We’ve made an effort and we want to improve towards equality,” RFEF president Luis Rubiales told Spanish media. “Games will be played on Saturdays and Sundays, with nothing on Fridays or Mondays. The players will wear their names on their shirts, the games will have fourth officials and all clubs are obliged to have three youth sides.”
There is significant interest for women’s football in Spain. A crowd of 60,739 watched Barcelona beat Atlético Madrid 2-0 at the Wanda Metropolitano in March, the highest-recorded crowd for a domestic women’s game in Europe, beating the previous best set at Bilbao’s San Mames in January.
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