Don Balon

Don Balón is a media that was born as a weekly sports magazine published in Spain on October 7, 1975 by the company Editorial Don Balón, S. A., with headquarters in the city of Barcelona. After 36 years in the market, Don Balón ceases publication on paper on September 6, 2011. For 26 years, from 1976 to 2010, the magazine celebrated the Don Balón Award. This gala annually awarded the best Spanish player, the best foreign player, the best referee and the most advanced player in LaLiga. These awards ceased with the closure of the printed magazine in 2011.

On March 10, 2015, the magazine is relaunched digitally. Its content is specialized in football. It currently has editions in Argentina, Guatemala, Ecuador, Uruguay, Venezuela, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Bulgaria, Bolivia, Paraguay, United States, Peru, Costa Rica and Spain.

History

On October 7, 1975, a printed edition of Don Balón was published for the first time. As of that date, Don Balón, is published as a weekly sports magazine. With its main focus being football, Don Balón quickly positioned itself as the leading sports magazine in Spain.

José María García, famous Spanish radio journalist, was its first editor, until in February 1977, the magazine published a cover that generated controversy. Following events that occurred in a match held at the Camp Nou, between the Málaga CF and FC Barcelona, which resulted in an expulsion of Johan Cruyff, invasion of the field and attack on the match referee, Ricardo Melero, García publishes the cover titled "La Semana de la Cruycifixión." Said An example uses a photomontage of Cruyff's face superimposed on Velázquez's Christ. As a result of countless criticisms of the publishing group, especially from Catholic Spain, García resigns from his position, and the publishing group apologizes publicly.

At the end of the 70s, Don Balón moved away from the predisposition to hire only male directors, which existed in sports journalism in Spain, and appointed Mercedes Milá to a command position in the magazine, becoming one of the first women to achieve a management position in Spanish journalism. Over the years, great names in Spanish journalism, such as: Juan Pedro Martínez, José María Casanovas, or J. J. González, have served as director of said medium.

On August 29, 2011, the last printed edition of the magazine was published. The economic situation of the publishing company was delicate, and on September 11 of the aforementioned year, it informed its readers through a message on Twitter, the cessation of printing and circulation.

Three years after having ceased operation and print circulation, and to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the printing of its first cover, on March 18, 2015, numerous personalities from the world of football visited the Old Damm Factory to a night of celebration. The company Football Lab Ltd. opted for Don Balón, and, together with Rogelio Rengel, general director, announced the beginning of a new stage; Don Balón in digital and modernized version.

Since its "re-launch" Don Balón has managed to establish itself as the leading Spanish football digital media for Spanish-speaking fans. With more than 115,000 followers on his Facebook profile, and more than 40 million pages visited per month, in 2019, according to Google Analytics.

Don Balón Awards

Starting in 1976, the Don Balón Prize was awarded. This annual gala was held every summer and rewarded the best in the Spanish soccer league, based on the journalistic ratings given to the soccer players throughout each of the matches of the last soccer season. The award, considered one of the most prestigious in Spanish football, had various categories: the best Spanish footballer, the best foreign footballer in the Spanish League, the best Spanish referee and the revelation player in the Spanish League, among other distinctions.

These awards, which also took journalistic criteria into account, were received by the great stars of Spanish football at that time such as Zidane, Riquelme, Forlan, Messi, Figo, Rivaldo, Ronaldo and Raúl González. These awards and galas were held and delivered uninterruptedly until their closure in 2011.

Awarded by Don Balón Awards (1975 - 2009)

Undefeated Don Ball Trophy

Since 2001, the Don Balón Undefeated Trophy is a football award that, each year, Don Balón awards to the team that has remained undefeated for the longest number of days in Spanish football (First Division, Second Division, Second B and Third Division). Since the creation of the trophy, the record is 35 matches achieved by the Atlético Ciudad Football Club and the Mirandés Deportivo Club.

Undefeated Don Balón Trophy Winners (2001 - 2011)

Other Don Balón Awards

Don Balón annually presents the award to the Top Scorer in America, known as the American Golden Boot.

In addition, between 1984 and 1997, Don Balón awarded the Don Balón Literary Awards, which consisted of two modalities: the Don Balón Prize for Novels and Essays and the Juan Antonio Samaranch Sports Poetry Prize. In 2010, Don Balón began collaborating with the online manager game Netliga, transferring his Don Balón ranking scores to it.

Don Balón Supermarket Awards

• 07/01: Hipercor (some products)/ Deza Quality
• 14/01: Supecor
• 21/01: Deza Quality
• 27/01: DIA
• 04/02: Carrefour
• 11/02: Carrefour
• 18/02: Mercadona
• 25/02: Deza Quality
• 04/03: Quality Deza
• 18/03: Carrefour

New Don Balón Supermarket Awards

10/21: Confisur/Lidl
10/28: SuperCor Express/Mercadona