October 23 – DAZN and Sky have renewed their Serie A broadcast deals for the next five seasons in a deal worth at least €4.5 billion.
The €900 million per season deal running until the end of the 2028/2029 season is a markdown from the current three-year €930 million annual deal that ends next June.
Serie A had been hoping to boost the overall figure for domestic rights to more than €1 billion per season but in the end clubs voted to accept the offers with 17 out of 20 in favour.
Serie A could boost the rights to more than €1 billion per season if certain, unquantified, subscription targets are met.
The five-year deal does bring stability for Italy’s top clubs though the revenue is nowhere near the current $5 billion per season domestic deal the English Premier League generates. The Premier League is currently tendering rights for its own new broadcast agreement and has carved out new live rights packages that it hopes will increase competitiveness between existing and new rights holders.
The Italians cannot be criticised for having tried everything from looking at potential private equity in a rights holding company, launching their own subscription channel, to breaking down live packages. At one point they even proposed taking the full league for competition over a month in the US (an idea that was always going to be a non-starter).
What is difficult to predict for Serie A is how that the new deal will look in five years time. That depends a lot on how the league product evolves as a product and how its fanbase supports it. Certainly Serie A clubs will find it difficult to compete for the top player talent in the European marketplace.
Under the new deal DAZN is reckoned to be paying €700 million per season and Comcast-owned SkyItalia €200 million.
“Figures were below our initial expectations and below our current contracts…but I think we were right to continue our relationship with Sky and DAZN,” Torino chairman Urbano Cairo told reporters.
“Creating a Serie A TV channel now…would had meant add further risk to a risky business as soccer”, said Cairo.
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