La Liga Prize Money Not Paying Out?

[duff33]

Just finished my first season managing in La Liga in FM24; is there no prize money paid out once the league campaign finishes (based on final league position)?

If I look under League Rules, there is no prize money listed for La Liga (as opposed to other leagues, which show how much a team receives for finishing in a certain position) - thought this was a bit unusual?

[warlock]

I think prize money is a share of the TV revenue - teams finishing higher get a bigger share. But I don't know that for certain.

[NineCloudNine]

11 hours ago, warlock said:

I think prize money is a share of the TV revenue - teams finishing higher get a bigger share. But I don't know that for certain.

This is correct, though it’s a pretty complicated formula. This article is a couple of years old but explains the principle:

https://amp.marca.com/en/football/spanish-football/2022/08/12/62f6a40a268e3e696a8b45cc.html
 

How (or how well) that is reflected in FM, I don’t know.

[duff33]

Thanks you both - so it'll be bundled in with the next TV money payment then. Thanks again.

[Tajerio]

5 hours ago, duff33 said:

Thanks you both - so it'll be bundled in with the next TV money payment then. Thanks again.

I'm interested to know how much you get--I've been poking around in the advanced rules in the pre-game editor trying to figure out how FM models this, and so far I can't tell.

[warlock]

Here's my TV income in La Liga over the three years of the save:

The three big spikes come in August each year, but it doesn't look like a simple positional payment. We finished 2nd in the first season, then consecutive 3rd place finishes but we got less for finishing runners-up and more for our most recent finish in 3rd 

[NineCloudNine]

1 hour ago, warlock said:

Here's my TV income in La Liga over the three years of the save:

The three big spikes come in August each year, but it doesn't look like a simple positional payment. We finished 2nd in the first season, then consecutive 3rd place finishes but we got less for finishing runners-up and more for our most recent finish in 3rd 

Take a read of the Marca article I linked to above. It looks like the payout is based on the last five league positions, which would explain your payout going up. From the outside it looks like a system guaranteed to reward the big clubs who regularly challenge for the top spots.

Edited April 24 by NineCloudNine

[warlock]

3 hours ago, NineCloudNine said:

it looks like a system guaranteed to reward the big clubs

In Spain? Surely not 

[duff33]

Yeah I think the whole thing is a bit wonky - the Salary cap/limit stuff does not recalculate very well in FM (still, an issue for two or three editions in a row now); feels like it's really difficult to get clubs into a healthy position financially - albeit, as others have said, "In Spain? Surely not" 

[warlock]

1 hour ago, duff33 said:

feels like it's really difficult to get clubs into a healthy position financially

In my Vigo save European football has been critical. Over three seasons, my salary cap went from £500k, to £700k, to nearly £1m most recently. A ground expansion helped, increasing season ticket sales by about 50%. We're now the third most profitable club in Spain, behind you-know-who but ahead of the likes of Atletico Madrid, Athletic Club, Villareal and the other more-established candidates.

So it can be done, but it isn't easy.

[mlpowell]

re: salary cap, I'm not sure it's actually recalculating based on revenue (as it should) at all - if you pour all your budget into payroll right before the announcement you get that much plus a little IIRC. If you try to keep payroll to a minimum (so players don't ask for more money) and forget to switch it over, you'll have a salary cap of a little more than your minimum payroll on the slider and wind up screwed the next season.

[NineCloudNine]

5 hours ago, mlpowell said:

re: salary cap, I'm not sure it's actually recalculating based on revenue (as it should) at all - if you pour all your budget into payroll right before the announcement you get that much plus a little IIRC. If you try to keep payroll to a minimum (so players don't ask for more money) and forget to switch it over, you'll have a salary cap of a little more than your minimum payroll on the slider and wind up screwed the next season.

This is exactly right - it clearly doesn’t work correctly. In fact it’s not easy to see how it is calculated at all - I’ve rooted around in the editor and there’s an option for ticking on or off ‘club specific salary cap’ but no indication of how that cap is arrived at. In the end I just took the salary cap out, it just messes up La Liga saves.

[duff33]

13 hours ago, mlpowell said:

re: salary cap, I'm not sure it's actually recalculating based on revenue (as it should) at all - if you pour all your budget into payroll right before the announcement you get that much plus a little IIRC. If you try to keep payroll to a minimum (so players don't ask for more money) and forget to switch it over, you'll have a salary cap of a little more than your minimum payroll on the slider and wind up screwed the next season.

Yeah having read a bit more about it in FM, this appears to be the way forward.

I've dumped most of my remaining summer 2024 transfer budget into wages (left a little aside in case anyone needs a renewal) now the window is closed; hopefully it recalculates before Winter 2025 window and gives me that bit more flexibility, as I had to leave two players out of my La Liga squad to fit in under the cap.

[mlpowell]

3 hours ago, duff33 said:

Yeah having read a bit more about it in FM, this appears to be the way forward.

I've dumped most of my remaining summer 2024 transfer budget into wages (left a little aside in case anyone needs a renewal) now the window is closed; hopefully it recalculates before Winter 2025 window and gives me that bit more flexibility, as I had to leave two players out of my La Liga squad to fit in under the cap.

It finalizes just after the Champion's League final. You can have your wage slider however you want up to that point and it doesn't matter. 

The other tip I remember seeing for La Liga saves was always push contracts to the start the next season, your salary cap is automatically compensated to account for them. 

[duff33]

2 hours ago, mlpowell said:

It finalizes just after the Champion's League final. You can have your wage slider however you want up to that point and it doesn't matter. 

The other tip I remember seeing for La Liga saves was always push contracts to the start the next season, your salary cap is automatically compensated to account for them. 

Ah okay, thanks - I thought I read somewhere that it calculated before each transfer window, but I guess not. Think I'm stuffed for this season then   No changes in January for me!

[duff33]

On 26/04/2024 at 15:09, duff33 said:

Yeah having read a bit more about it in FM, this appears to be the way forward.

I've dumped most of my remaining summer 2024 transfer budget into wages (left a little aside in case anyone needs a renewal) now the window is closed; hopefully it recalculates before Winter 2025 window and gives me that bit more flexibility, as I had to leave two players out of my La Liga squad to fit in under the cap.

Sadly it does not recalculate before the winter transfer window - my save is now essentially stuck at the end of January 2025, as contract related wage increases for some of my best youngsters have pushed us over the cap now.

£80m in the bank, and £282k p/w wage budget surplus and £31.6m transfer budget all useless 

[warlock]

As I understand the rules, the cap is based on a rolling 3-year financial performance. Since Valencia was a basket-case for years, and was almost bankrupted by the Covid crisis, it would logically take more than one season of improved finances to shift the salary cap. 

Also, the cap is recalculated at the end of the season IRL and I imagine FM does the same so I don't think you were ever going to see an uplift ahead of the January transfer window.

It's harsh but I think a pretty good reflection of real life.