The Italian top flight and the Qatari network are reportedly discussing an agreement for the MENA region
Serie A could be about to reunite with its former broadcast partner in the MENA region, Qatari-based giant beIN Sports. After relations between the two disintegrated following a clash over piracy, several parties in the Italian game are looking to bring beIN back to the negotiating table to hash out a new TV rights agreement for the Middle East and North Africa region.
Having previously enjoyed a good working relationship under a $170m per season broadcast agreement, tensions flared when beIN believed Serie A were not doing enough to combat piracy, especially in regards to the now defunct Saudi pirate network BeoutQ.
As beIN felt that Serie A were not doing enough to crack down on the theft of the content they had paid for, they chose to stop airing coverage of the league back in June 2020, before refusing to renew that $170m per season deal when it expired at the end of the 2020/21 season.
beIN eventually received compensation from the league for that campaign, meaning that Serie A has effectively received no income from broadcasting in the MENA region during the last two seasons.
However, according to reports, beIN Sports are now considering a return to the fray in Serie A, thanks to the efforts of a couple of negotiating parties. With the relationship between execs at beIN and Serie A Chief Executive Luigi De Siervo so strained, it is understood that newly elected Serie A President Lorenzo Casini and Dan Friedkin, the owner of Roma, are pushing forward with talks in his place.
If they are successful, it will mean a boost in broadcasting revenues for Serie A, who during the past two seasons have been showing matches on their Serie A YouTube channel in the MENA region, due to the lack of a working agreement with any TV network or paid streaming service.
Due to the turbulent relationship between the two parties, and Serie A's inability to sign a broadcast deal with a different provider in the MENA region, it is thought that beIN will be offering substantially less than the $170m per season they paid several years ago.
However, they are expected to outbid Abu Dhabi Media (ADM) and StarzPlay who are supposedly offering around $29m per season from 2022/23 until 2026/27.
If Serie A and beIN can come to an agreement, it will likely be for a much lower fee than the league commanded several seasons ago but it will at least provide some revenue from the region and enable them to stop showing their matches completely free on YouTube.
Only time will tell if negotiations are to be successful, with the relationship between Serie A and beIN still very tenuous.
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