Serie A CEO, Luigi De Siervo, has come forward to defend the league's new €4.5 billion (US$4.74 billion) domestic rights agreements with DAZN and Sky. Despite facing criticism from several Serie A clubs, De Siervo remains optimistic about the deal and the potential for lucrative international rights deals.
The new agreements, set to commence from the 2024/25 season and extend for the subsequent five years, average about €900 million (US$949.2 million) per season. This figure is slightly lower than the €927.5 million (US$978.2 million) the league receives annually under its current contracts with the same broadcasters.
Despite the reduction in revenue, the deal was approved by a majority of the league teams, with 17 out of 20 voting in favor. This deal has drawn a fair amount of outside criticism.
De Siervo jumps to the defence of new rights deal
In response to the criticism, De Siervo defended the state of the Italian game during an appearance on the ‘La Politica nel Pallone’ podcast on the Rai Gr Parlamento radio station.
He suggested, among other things, that the league remains open to the idea of creating an in-house streaming service in the future.
Serie A CEO, Luigi De Siervo, said:
“This does not mean that the process of transforming Serie A into a media company has stopped, on the contrary. We already produce live content, and two months ago we launched Radio Serie A TV with RDS, which broadcasts 17 hours a day. This is considered an essential element by DAZN and they wanted to ensure it in order to enrich its content offer."
“The league, therefore, continues this path, but the fact of becoming entrepreneurs of ourselves, an ambitious and shareable idea, did not find everyone’s consensus.”
“We remain optimistic, we will be able to do much better than the market since we have a product of great quality and level. The results will be better than others, in a very complicated market and context."
De Siervo also provided an update on the league's strategy to sell its international rights. He acknowledged the challenges European soccer leagues and other competitions face in increasing revenue in a post-pandemic environment, which has seen a shift in favor of streaming over linear TV.
Piracy a significant threat to Serie A rights revenues
The league has also recognized piracy as a significant threat to its rights revenue. In response, Italian regulators have recently been granted more powers to shut down websites that illegally stream games. This move reaffirms Serie A's determination to fight piracy, as the sport relies heavily on pay-TV.
Overall, despite the criticism, Serie A's CEO remains optimistic about the new domestic TV deal and the potential for securing lucrative international rights deals. The league is also committed to combating piracy and exploring new avenues, such as in-house streaming services, to increase revenue and adapt to the changing landscape of sports broadcasting.
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