Italian soccer's top-tier Serie A has confirmed a significant extension of its broadcast rights with Saran Media, covering 15 Eastern European and Central Asian countries. This move is part of the league's ongoing efforts to complete its international broadcast partner portfolio before the start of the 2024-25 season.
The specifics of this deal involve Saran holding exclusive rights in Turkey and Ukraine from 2024-25 through to 2026-27, and in another thirteen markets (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan) from 2024-25 through to 2028-29.
These rights include live Serie A matches, highlights, delayed action, and clips.
Previous partnership successes
During the last cycle – running between 2021-22 and 2023-24 – Saran held similar rights across all these countries plus the Czech Republic and Slovakia. This partnership was estimated by GlobalData Sport to be worth $11.55 million overall.
In addition to Serie A matches, the agreement also extends coverage for knockout Coppa Italia matches, and Italian Supercup mini competition each year.
From among these countries, Napoli’s Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Georgia) is considered one of the top Serie A players currently. This deal will allow fans in his home country, and others, to follow his progress more closely. This announcement comes as Serie A scrambles to finalize its international broadcast partners before Friday's kickoff for the new season with Genoa taking on champions Inter Milan.
Changes in media rights selling strategy
The league’s international rights tenders have been ongoing since mid-2023, with a substantial shift in its method for selling media rights across the next cycle. Previously, most of the rights were held by Infront agency. Now, Serie A is conducting a significant proportion of negotiations directly with broadcasters, although Infront continues to distribute rights across Asia-Pacific.
Over recent weeks, Serie A has unveiled deals in the UK (TNT Sports), US (CBS), Spain (DAZN), and Russia (Match TV). During the last cycle,the Italian league reportedly earned just over $650 million from overseas broadcast rights over three seasons.
Domestically, the league will be covered by DAZN and pay-TV’s Sky Italia for the next five seasons. Saran Media, on the other hand, has recently announced major deals with soccer bodies including France’s LFP, England’s Premier League and Football Association, and Europe's UEFA.
