Fox Broadcasting Company is expected this week to confirm a 15 season deal worth $3000m pesos annually ($188m dollars) to broadcast Argentine domestic football and replace the Government backed broadcaster Futbol para Todos with immediate effect.
To put this into context requires a brief examination of the country’s political history and the constant battle between the socioeconomic forces that drive it. On one side is the working class which became organised in a unique way due to the phenomenon of Peronism, then on the other is the business orientated class. Their respective desire to manage the country’s leading industries in distinctive manners has often seen football at the centre of national politics, this has been more so the case with Peronist governments who have seen the game as a method of exercising societal control. The recently elected (December 2015) business focused president Mauricio Macri began his duties of reversing this control by attempting to re-privatise all major industries. One of these major nationalised institutions is the channel responsible for the televising of major sporting events including coverage of the Argentine Premier Division which has been free to air since 2009.
The original nationalisation of televised football took place in 2009 when Cristina Kirchner sought to further the states involvement with football. After acquiring the television rights in an enforced $600m peso takeover, domestic football became further centralised with the government using their own channel to show games and as an opportunity to further propaganda of governmental schemes and agenda. Boca Juniors Daniel Angelici highlighted one of the many examples of governmental interference when he spoke of the changing of kick off times to coincide with programmes on other networks that criticised the state. In addition to being morally subjectable, the showing of government propaganda has also cut off various forms of advertising revenue and requires the state to foot the bill of lost income for clubs in order to maintain competitiveness. Estimations suggest from the most recent figures available that the futboll para todos allocation funds have risen 135% in the 6 years reaching $1401m pesos annually in 2014. These major nationalised industries that have proved costly and ineffective in terms of contribution to GDP and are exactly the industries Mauricio Macri has targeted for reform or privatisation since becoming President. The Fox Network in response to the privatisation have already stated that clubs would receive more money in the restructured deal although this would this would be partly due to clubs receiving a greater share of the pie due to the stipulation that the league be reduced from 30 top flight clubs to 24 or 20.
Wiki commons / Pro-Government slogans used during football broadcasts
The privatisation and now subsequent potential re-privatisation effectively highlights the perpetual divide between the countries permanent struggle. The business class reforms Macri represents do not mean a perfect capitalist dystopia, but it does remains clear that Argentine football fairs poorly comparatively when it comes to broadcasting revenue. While some profits may be repatriated to outside the country’s borders, a deal to re-privatise would undoubtedly prove beneficial financially to football but also bring long term needed reforms to the games.
Carlos Matinez, head of Fox’s Latin American affiliate, highlighted much needed structural changes to the Argentine game in order to comply with the demands of International broadcasting. For years the domestic competition has suffered from a lack of credibility due to a lack of firm leadership and changing structures and rules, the league for example has changed format every year for the last 6 years. This alone makes the competition very difficult to follow for domestic viewers never mind those outside of the country. Martinez in the interview stated that the international viewer would be a priority in the restructuring. The proposals of the PPV model put forward by Martinez have been radical and present the other side of the political dilemma Argentina has traditionally faced which is an overcompliance with the demands of a global market.
Kick off times being organised to comply with international audiences raise the profile and bring obvious advantages but also conflict with the interest of domestic viewers and those that attend games. The close connection and relationship between state and national industry but specifically football signifies that the selling off of Futbol para todos is likely to provide a further divide between national political factions but also represents the start of a period of landmark change. In football terms these changes are seemingly desperately needed however politically the stance of Macri to remove state control over the nation’s most beloved industry could leave him answering more questions about his commitment to national interests.
