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Italian soccer’s top-flight Serie A has approved the creation of eight different domestic rights tender schemes, with broadcasters invited to bid for contracts spanning three, four or five seasons.
Confirmed:
- Serie A targets €3.6 billion (US$3.9 billion) for three-year contracts
- League wants €5.28 billion (US$5.72 billion) from four-year bids
- €7.2 billion (US$7.8 billion) sought for five-year offers
- Bids to also be collected for single Saturday night matches
- Serie A to tender the right to broadcast matches ahead of big retail events such as Black Friday and Valentine’s Day
Context:
Serie A’s current domestic rights deals with DAZN and Sky run for three years and expire after the 2023/24 season. Streaming subscription service DAZN’s contract for the bulk of games is worth more than €2.5 billion (US$2.7 billion), while pay-TV broadcaster Sky Italia’s package is worth a reported €262.5 million (US$284.4 million).
The league’s chief executive Luigi de Siervo said at a press conference that Serie A would launch a bidding process to find a financial partner to create its own media platform to distribute games, should the upcoming rights sale process be unsuccessful.
Comment:
“We have tapped market in the past months and we found that operators are keen on longer contracts as they seek higher returns from their investment,” said de Siervo.
Coming next:
The sales process for Serie A’s domestic rights is expected to begin next month.
