Serie A accepts billion dollar broadcast bids

20 September 2011 | Posted in Broadcast, Soccer, Europe | By Tom Love

According to numerous media reports, the bids made by broadcasters Sky Italia and Mediaset for the live rights to the Italy's Serie A have been accepted.

Both agreements will last for a multi-year period, are of an increased value to that of the league's existing deals and will rise incrementally towards the end of their three-year tenure.

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The new agreement with Rupert Murdoch's Sky Italia sees the television network paying an average of US$768 million per season for rights to all 20 of the league's teams, while Mediaset's lesser package is worth roughly US$367 million annually.

Though the overall annual figure paid to the league represents an increase of roughly five per cent compared with the existing broadcast agreements, Sky Italia will pay roughly US$19 million less in its new contract while Mediaset, which is owned by Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, will commit almost US$70 million more per season for rights to just 12 of the league's teams.

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"We are satisfied," said Andrea Locatelli, vice-president of Infront Sports & Media, the Serie A's rights representative. "This income will provide stability for Italian football. We wanted to push ahead with the tender process because the television industry needs to plan in advance."

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