Spanish Futsal Faces Television Audience Crisis
The declining television viewership for Spanish Futsal’s First Division has become a significant concern for clubs and their sponsors’ marketing departments. Despite this troubling trend, José Miguel Monje, president of the National Football Committee, appears to downplay the issue.
In a recent interview with specialized portal ‘Futsalsur,’ Monje suggested the sport’s diminishing appeal as an audiovisual product might be due to low scoring: “Maybe we’re not scoring enough goals.” This comment has been widely perceived as minimizing the serious audience decline following the Spanish Football Federation’s (RFEF) takeover of audiovisual management.
Rather than addressing the core issues, Monje deflected criticism by focusing on tactical approaches and goal-scoring efficiency. He failed to acknowledge that recent rule changes were implemented without team consensus. Ignored the negative impact on clubs’ commercial interests, which aren’t even being properly measured by the National Committee.
Monje defended the Federation
When questioned about the First Division’s poor promotion, Monje defended the Federation. Stating they manage the competition with “the highest budget in history—18 million euros for futsal.” Regarding promotional responsibilities, he remarked, “I can’t go to individual pavilions or clubs to advertise teams. That’s the clubs’ responsibility.”
Ironically, with the Spanish Cup in Murcia approaching, the National Football Committee hasn’t conducted any advertising activities in the city. Similar to what happened in Cartagena in 2024. Ticket sales for the event at the Sports Palace are reportedly concerning. Additionally, only two of the four quarterfinal matches will be broadcast on Teledeporte, with the others relegated to RTVE Play, further frustrating clubs already dealing with inconsistent scheduling and deprioritization compared to other sports.
For the second consecutive year, the full First Division schedule is available on FEF TV with one match on Teledeporte. According to official figures, the First Division’s total viewership on the Federation’s platform was only 170,000 for the entire 2023-24 season, with just 2,074 unique users. This season, the average audience for the 21 league matches televised on the public channel has plummeted to 41,000 viewers, with seven broadcasts failing to exceed 30,000 viewers.
The most-watched match
The most-watched match this season was Barcelona versus Movistar Inter on Sunday, November 23, which attracted 113,000 viewers (1.3% share). In contrast, the Jimbee Cartagena-Talesos el Hidalgo Manzanares match on November 9 drew only 18,730 viewers, the lowest of the season. Even more concerning, the rematch of last season’s league final between Elpozo Murcia and Jimbee barely reached 28,000 viewers.
Perhaps most alarming was the match between league champion Jimbee Cartagena and UEFA Futsal Champions League winner Palma, which registered only 21,360 viewers (0.19% share)—well below the channel’s 0.6% average. This potentially preview of May’s continental final was scheduled on Friday, February 22, at 9:00 PM against indoor athletics coverage. For perspective, a delayed Copa del Rey volleyball match between Almería and Manacor attracted more viewers (23,000) with a 0.4% share that same day.
Despite these concerning statistics, Monje remains uncritical, highlighting that “we are televising matches for both men’s and women’s competitions.” He announced that Teledeporte will continue broadcasting the First Division with fixed time slots next season: Fridays at 9:00 PM for men’s futsal and either 11:00 AM or 12:00 PM on Saturdays for women’s futsal, with plans to establish consistent programming.
