Originally Posted by
BBC
If you are watching a La Liga game and notice fans seem to be crammed into certain parts of the ground while other areas are left vacant, there is a good reason.
Increasingly aware of the need to compete with the English Premier League for the lucrative overseas television market, La Liga's bosses have realised a game played in front of packed stands provides a much better TV product, conveying a sense of atmosphere and excitement.
To counter the unfortunate fact many Spanish grounds are often well below capacity (not helped by the league's unhelpful fixture scheduling), the authorities have taken the drastic step of introducing a new rule which will see clubs fined if the stand facing the main TV camera is less than 75% full.
The league's rule book "strongly recommends accommodating season-ticket holders and other spectators" in the necessary seating, with judgments to be made on the decidedly low-tech basis of photographs taken by delegates after 30 minutes of each match.
It's too early to tell how strictly the league will apply their bizarrely authoritarian new 'incentive', but there is comfort for clubs such as Deportivo La Coruna and Real Sociedad in the notoriously wet northern regions of Spain - the rule does not apply when it rains.
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