According to SportsPro Media, a U.S. sports business outlet, Serie A CEO Luigi De Siervo has provided an explanation and clarification for the new rights agreement signed by Serie A.
Earlier, Serie A entered into a domestic rights agreement with DAZN and Sky, valued at 4.5 billion euros over five years.
The new agreement, which will commence with the 2024-2025 season, will bring in an average of about 900 million euros per season. This figure is slightly lower than the annual 927.5 million euros contract previously signed with the same broadcasters.
Despite the agreement being approved by the vote of 17 out of the 20 league teams, it has faced opposition from several other Serie A clubs.
Among the voices of dissent, Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis was particularly vocal. He expressed to reporters that the contract represented a "complete failure for Italian football."
De Laurentiis displayed his anger at a press conference following a week-long meeting where the agreement was signed. He said that the contract could have a negative impact on Italian football and described it as a loss for the sport in Italy.
De Laurentiis believes that DAZN and Sky have not brought substantial benefits to Italian football. He expressed confusion over the contents of the contracts, criticizing DAZN for bundling Italian football with other sports offerings, which might not be the best choice for the league.
De Laurentiis had previously urged Serie A to reject the broadcasters' offers and instead create its own direct-to-consumer (DTC) service. Reports suggest that Serie A has already received financing interest from numerous private equity firms.
In response to the internal opposition, Serie A CEO Luigi De Siervo emphasized that "the league is healthier than it has ever been."
In an interview with Rai Gr Parliament radio, De Siervo responded by saying that he doesn't understand those who think Serie A has no value, pointing out that the numbers show the opposite. He highlighted Serie A's success in European competitions, mentioning that last season, Serie A teams reached the Champions League finals three times and are currently competing for five spots in next year's tournament. He noted that Italian football is experiencing a significant resurgence in terms of results.
He added that Serie A's international broadcasting center has already started producing live content. Two months ago, the league launched Serie A TV in collaboration with RDS, broadcasting 17 hours a day.
De Siervo also mentioned that streaming is likely to be the latest strategy for selling international broadcasting rights, and the league will continue to consider creating an internal streaming service in the future.
Moreover, Serie A acknowledges that piracy remains a significant threat to its revenue from rights. However, Italian regulators have recently been given more power to shut down websites that illegally stream games.
De Siervo stated that the league would further revise the agreement to achieve better results and predicted that the number of football and Serie A subscribers would grow over the next five years due to the new rights agreement.
Insiders revealed that if DAZN reaches a certain number of subscribers within this five-year cycle, the rights agreement could see an additional bonus of 1.06 billion euros, undoubtedly adding more appeal to the new deal.
However, there are risks as well as rewards. If the subscription targets are not met, the returns from this agreement could be significantly reduced.
