- Sky set to pay Serie A €85m for the 2021/22 season, rising to €87.5m and €90m respectively for the deal’s final two years
- Serie A will bring in around €927.5m annually for its domestic rights in new cycle, down from current €973m per year
Pay-TV broadcaster Sky Italia has acquired Serie A’s final live domestic broadcast package in a deal worth a reported €262.5 million (US$318.7 million) over three years.
Kicking off from the 2021/22 season and running until the end of the 2023/24 campaign, the Comcast-owned network has secured co-exclusive rights to 114 Serie A matches per season. The broadcaster will air three fixtures per round in the Saturday evening, Sunday early afternoon and Monday evening slots.
Italian agency Ansa reports that 16 of Serie A’s 20 clubs voted in favour of the contract on 14th May. Italian media report that the breakdown of Sky’s rights fee is €85 million (US$103.2 million) for 2021/22, rising to €87.5 million (US$106.2 million) and €90 million (US$109.2 million), respectively, for the final two years of the deal.
Coupled with DAZN’s €840 million (US$1.01 billion) per season contract, which covers the main package of seven exclusive games per round and the co-exclusive rights to three matches, Serie A will receive around €927.5 million (US$1.13 billion) from its domestic broadcasters over the next three seasons. Serie A’s expiring domestic rights deals with Sky and DAZN are worth €973 million (US$1.18 billion) per year.
Serie A said that finalising the agreement for the secondary package was dependent on Sky dropping the legal action concerning the original rights deal with DAZN that was lodged with a Milan court last month. Sky confirmed it was dropping the appeal on 14th May.
Without the main Serie A package, Sky last month moved for non-exclusive domestic broadcast rights to the second-tier Serie B. The contract covering the 2021/22 to 2023/24 rights cycle is for all matches across both linear and digital platforms.
Elsewhere, DAZN has bolstered its offering in Germany and Austria by signing a long-term renewal of its exclusive live broadcast partnership with Spanish soccer’s top-flight La Liga. That deal covers all La Liga matches until the end of the 2025/26 season.
Sky Italia has acquired Serie A’s final live domestic broadcast package in a deal worth a reported €262.5 million
