The National Court upheld a 100,000 euro fine against Televisión Española (RTVE) for airing illegal advertising during Spain’s football team matches in 2019, a ruling captured in a January 27 decision disclosed by EL PERIÓDICO DE ESPAÑA, part of the Prensa Ibérica group.
The violations occurred during the Spain–Norway match on March 23, 2019, and the Malta–Spain match on March 26, 2019, part of the men’s Eurocup qualifying campaign for 2020, which ultimately took place in 2021 due to the pandemic.
Both games were broadcast on La 1 under a contract between RTVE and UEFA to secure Spanish broadcasting rights for the team’s matches, a package formerly managed by coach Luis Enrique Martinez.
During the two matches, RTVE showed forty advertising overlays for UEFA and for several sponsors of the Spanish team, including Seat, Caixabank, Bet365, Pelayo, Booking.com, Danone, and Domino’s Pizza.
CNMC’s fine
Accordingly, on December 11, 2019, the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) fined RTVE 100,000 euros, describing it as a persistent minor offense for failing to comply with the ban on audiovisual commercial communications under the current financing model established in 2010.
RTVE challenged the sanction in court, arguing that the commercial slots were mandated by UEFA as a condition of purchasing the broadcast rights for the matches. In practice, the applicable law recognizes a narrow exception to the general rule against public television advertising when emissions are part of a permitted sports production.
The court’s decision cites article 7.1 of the RTVE Financing Act, which allows, on exceptional grounds, sponsorships or other commercial arrangements to accompany the broadcasting of sports events when they become an integral element of the signal produced for rights acquisitions.
UEFA does not compel
The National Court concluded that these circumstances did not apply in this case, since UEFA did not compel RTVE to insert advertisements during the broadcasts. The court affirmed the CNMC’s reasoning that the broadcasting agreement did not obligate RTVE to insert ads that would trigger sanctions.
The ruling notes that UEFA included certain provisions in the contract regarding promotion and a set of broadcasting guidelines to maintain uniformity across countries. However, it emphasizes that rights holders are never required to insert commercial breaks in a way that would expose RTVE to sanctions.
Advertisements were present in matches during the final stages of the Nations League, where branding is standardized and shared across operators. For other matches, including those that led to sanctions, each broadcaster retains discretion.
The court found no error in interpreting the contract, even while confirming the obligation to comply with UEFA’s promotional rules. The ruling underscored that any advertising must align with RTVE’s public service mission, which operates without a commercial mandate.