Serie A opens US office in pursuit of expansion

Italian football league Serie A has opened an office in the US in an effort to improve its search for media opportunities in the country. 

It also marks the league’s first international expansion. It was confirmed by Serie A managing director Luigi De Siervo who, speaking to RadioSOI Sport, said that the move would broaden the league’s reach.

He said: “The US will be the theater of football in the coming years because it will host the final phase of the men’s and women’s World Cups. We are looking for new audiences.

“We want to add value to the sporting event, making the virtual stadium, that is, the TV, as beautiful as the physical one. We are trying to intercept pieces of a large market.”

The news comes as the league is in the process of deciding on whether to award domestic TV rights to Mediapro. After a series of delays, the body has set a deadline of October 14. 

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.

Serie A has also recently announced a restructure of its Milan operations to be overseen by audiovisual rights director Fabio Sanotoro.