January 27 – JP Morgan have added their names to a number of private equity investors interested in buying into Italy’s Serie A.
The banking behemoth has written to the Italian top flight to express interest in the league’s media business. The race for the domestic and international broadcast licences for the post-2024 seasons is already heating up.
JPMorgan is prepared to invest between €700 million and €1 billion in the Serie A business, according to Reuters.
Once the world’s leading league, Serie A has fallen well behind the English Premier League in terms of revenue and commercial deals. Investors feel there is scope to catch up while Serie A has said it is exploring the creation of a separate media business open to external investment.
The interest comes at a delicate time for Italian football which has seen an influx of American club owners in recent years but the current Juventus scandal has tarnished the reputation of the domestic game. The iconic club is under investigation for fraudulent accounting and has already suffered a 15-points deduction.
In 2021, JP Morgan backed the breakaway European Super League plans which collapsed within the space of 48 hours after a storm of protest from supporters as well as politicians. In a rare statement, JP Morgan was apologetic about the move to throw its support between the 12 elite clubs who wanted to redraw the European football landscape and seek greater riches.
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