Uruguayan players win TV rights share in image rights breakthrough

Uruguay’s Mutual Uruguayan Professional Footballers’ Association has agreed a landmark image rights settlement that will see players receive a fixed share of the country’s new football broadcast contract.MUFP said it has signed an agreement with the Uruguayan Football Association to receive 4% of the new TV deal, a structure that ties player compensation directly to the commercial value of the product.The union said the allocation equates to around US$2.5m per year until 2029, with the funds intended to support players across the men’s and women’s professional divisions.MUFP secretary general Mitchell Duarte said the agreement was enabled by a shift in how Uruguayan football sells its media rights.Duarte said: “Uruguayan football went from US$17m to US$67m,” and linked the uplift to the end of a long-running market structure that limited value creation.Duarte said: “We first pushed for a modification to the AUF statutes to include player participation, and then we proposed an open tender where any company could bid publicly.“The tender was achieved, the figures we had long been pushing for materialised, and that put us in a strong position to negotiate image rights.”Duarte said the principle now applies across audiovisual commercialisation, not only a single contract cycle.He added: “All commercialisation of audiovisual rights must now include an agreement with the players and compensation that reflects the value of the product. There is now recognition of a right that belongs to us.”MUFP also positioned the deal as a governance shift, not only a payout mechanism.Duarte said: “The importance of this agreement is not only economic. It ensures we are part of the business, allows us to audit contracts and access key information. It is also symbolically important, as we now have a seat at the decision-making table in Uruguayan football.”The agreement includes a distribution model intended to deliver a more equitable allocation across the professional player base and support a retirement fund, addressing welfare gaps in a market where career and income volatility remains high.MUFP said additional benefits sit alongside the central image rights payment, with earmarked funding for medical support, education, and post-playing programmes.Duarte said: “We will have US$60,000 to spend on ultrasounds, operations and MRIs,” describing it as a way to support players who lack coverage or face costs not currently met.MUFP said it will also receive US$50,000 for education and post-retirement programmes, including coaching and management courses that can improve employability after playing careers end.The union highlighted food support as another immediate change, with an existing programme of 2,000 food baskets per year set to double from 2026.Duarte said: “These baskets are provided to all players. It is a universal benefit,” and said the increase will support expanded distribution mid-year and at year end.Commercially, the structure is a notable example of players capturing value from media growth via collective bargaining, with the image rights share creating a transparent link between rights inflation and labour participation.The agreement also raises the benchmark in South America for how federations and leagues define player participation in audiovisual monetisation, particularly as rights sales move towards more competitive tender processes and multi-buyer models.