Serie A delays Mediapro decision to October 14

The Italian football league has once again delayed its decision on Mediapro’s bid for Serie A rights. 

The body had initially set a deadline of September 30, which was delayed by a week to October 7. This latest delay adds another week to that, with the new deadline set for October 14. The extra time is to allow more time for a deal to be concluded. 

Italian news site calciomercato.corriere.it. reports that Mediapro executives Jaume Roures and Tatxo Benet had a positive meeting with Serie A president Gaetano Miccichè in Milan last week.

Mediapro has offered €1.3 billion for media, production and distribution rights. This would give the Spanish group the rights for the three seasons between 2021-22 to 2023-24 and allow for the creation of an in-house channel for the league. 

The deal is also believed to have €55 million per season for copyright costs and €78 million per season for production. 

The rights for the league are currently held by Sky Italia and streamer DAZN, who agreed deals worth a combined €973 million per season through to 2021.

Serie A did accept a bid from Mediapro last year of just €1,000 above the reserve price of €1.05 billion. This was approved by the nation’s antitrust regulator, on the condition that Mediapro sold on the rights to broadcasters. However, Sky Italia issued a legal challenge and the league terminated the deal. 

Overall, the proliferation and globalisation of streaming is having a significant impact on the valuation of sports broadcast rights. A new report from Rethink TV predicts that revenues are likely to grow by 75% over the seven year period between 2018 and 2025 from US$48.6 billion to US$85.1 billion.