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- Serie A hopes to generate €12 million a season
- Current domestic TV deals are worth €927.5 million
Serie A is planning to launch its own over-the-top (OTT) platform for Italian soccer highlights and other content in time for the new season, according to Italian publication Milano Finanza.
The report says internal discussions are at an advanced stage, with the business model and technical roadmap already fairly developed.
The project is estimated to cost between €3 million (US$3 million) and €6 million (US$6.1 million), but Serie A hopes that by bringing its highlights distribution in house, it can generate revenues of €12 million (US$12.1 million) a season.
Milanese advertising and technology firm AdPlay is said to be the favourite to develop the proposition and build the infrastructure to power the service, which would be available via the web, on mobile and via a smart TV application.
Serie A will now consult its clubs on the plan and its choice of supplier, but one potential obstacle could be the league’s broadcasters. Although none of its partners have a specific claim to highlights and goal clips, they may be uneasy at the prospect of direct competition from an in-house project such as this.
The league has just completed the first season of a three-year domestic rights cycle worth €927.5 million (US$937.4m) thanks to deals from sports streaming service DAZN and pay-TV giant Sky.