Global sports streaming service, DAZN, has announced a significant three-year media rights agreement with Italian soccer’s top-tier Serie A in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. This deal represents an extension of existing agreements in Germany and Austria while introducing a new partnership in Switzerland.
The agreement was approved by the assembly of the 20-team Serie A back in December but was only made public recently. It expands on DAZN's domestic coverage of Serie A matches for the 2024-25 to 2028-29 cycle.
This deal marks a significant milestone as it discloses a Serie A rights agreement in major European regions including Switzerland and Austria which are both neighboring Italy. The contract also covers other prestigious Italian football events such as Supercoppa and Coppa Italia matches.
DAZN tumbled Blue+ and Sky Deutschland to win DACH
In the previous Serie A cycle running between 2021-22 and 2023-24, broadcast rights were shared by Blue+ and Sky Deutschland in Switzerland. During this period across Germany and Austria, DAZN paid an estimated total of $11.35 million for Serie A rights through a last-minute deal struck only in August 2021.
Starting from next season, for the first time ever, DAZN broadcasts of Serie A matches will be available not just in German but also English or original Italian language options catering to diverse audience preferences. Notably current German players like Malick Thiaw at AC Milan, Yann Aurel Bisseck at Inter are among those who play their trade at Italian clubs.
DAZN holds broadcasting rights across all three countries (DACH) to top-tier European soccer competitions such as France’s Ligue 1, Spain’s LaLiga along with pan-European UEFA Champions League matches plus domestic Bundesliga games.
Changes in Serie A's international rights tenders
Serie A’s international rights tenders have been ongoing since mid-2023, with the league significantly altering its method for selling media rights across the next cycle. Previously, most of these rights were held by the Infront agency. However, now Serie A is conducting a large proportion of negotiations directly with broadcasters in various markets.
This process is being led by Anna Guarnerio who joined the league in a senior media rights role after spending 25 years at Infront Italy. While deals have been publicly concluded in several European markets so far, Serie A has not announced successful bidders' names in most cases. The DACH deals were first announced last December alongside other tie-ups in Belgium and the Balkan region.
The league recently put its rights out to tender in Poland where Eleven Sports broadcaster held them during the last cycle. However, major markets like UK and US are still awaiting announcements about their tie-ups with less than three months until the new Serie A season begins.
Domestically, DAZN along with pay-TV’s Sky Italia will cover Serie A for five seasons.
