Sky Italia, Mediaset win rights to Serie A top teams - source

MILAN (Reuters) - TV broadcasters Sky Italia and Mediaset will both have rights to air matches of the eight main teams in Italy's Serie A top-flight football league over the next three seasons, a source close to the matter said on Thursday.





Sky Italia, the satellite unit of 21st Century Fox, will also have exclusive rights to broadcast matches of the other 12 teams in Serie A, the source added.

The two companies already have rights to Serie A matches but under the new deal Mediaset will broadcast fewer games than under its existing deal and will pay more, while Sky Italia will pay the same amount but will have more matches exclusively.

Sky Italia will pay 572 million euros (457.48 million pounds), while Mediaset, the Italian TV group controlled by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, will pay 373 million, the source said.

Sky declined to comment and Mediaset said it was waiting for an official announcement on the matter.

Owning live sports rights is crucial for recruiting and retaining pay-television customers in Europe, especially as the arrival of new internet rivals like Netflix and Google's Youtube give consumers more content options.

The Serie A rights were initially due to be awarded at the beginning of June but legal complaints filed by the rival bidders delayed the process.





(Reporting by Elvira Pollina; Editing by Paola Arosio; Writing by Stephen Jewkes; Editing by David Holmes)


Share

2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: Reuters


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world