MILAN/DUBAI, (Reuters) – Italy’s prime soccer league Serie A is in talks over a broadcast cope with state-backed Abu Dhabi Media and on a separate settlement to host its Super Cup within the emirate, three sources with data of the matter stated.
Home to AC Milan, Juventus and different prime golf equipment, Serie A is methods to meet up with main European leagues comparable to England’s Premier League and Spain’s La Liga which it lags when it comes to income from markets overseas.
As a part of these efforts, the league is exploring a deal with Abu Dhabi Media, owned by state holding firm ADQ, to display screen its matches within the Middle East and North Africa for 5 seasons, in keeping with the sources, who declined to be named.
Under the phrases mentioned, Serie A golf equipment would pocket a minimum of 143 million euros ($153 million) in whole over 5 years, the identical sources stated, including the deal may very well be price as much as 186 million euros together with royalties.
Last yr Serie A didn’t award its pay-TV licenses within the Middle East and North Africa as earlier rights holder Qatar’s BeIn Sports didn’t be a part of the race and talks with Saudi Sports Company proved fruitless.
That left the Italian league with a big shortfall in its worldwide pay TV income, which plummeted by a few third to 640 million euros within the three years to 2024 in contrast with the earlier cycle.
Talks over the brand new deal, which might contain streaming some matches on Abu Dhabi-based streaming platform Starzplay, are ongoing and there’s no certainty it can undergo, the sources stated.
Serie A’s golf equipment representatives are on account of talk about the bid at a gathering scheduled for June 7, the sources added.
The Abu Dhabi authorities’s media workplace, ADQ and Starzplay didn’t instantly reply to emailed requests for remark. Serie A declined to remark.
Separately, Serie A is in talks with Abu Dhabi’s tradition and tourism division over a 5-yr deal to host the Italian Super Cup within the Gulf state, below a brand new format, the identical sources added.
The Super Cup would change to a 4-group competitors – as in Spain since 2019 – moderately than being a match between the winners of Serie A and the Italian Cup, the sources stated.
This different deal, whose phrases are nonetheless being mentioned, may very well be price 129 million euros, the folks added. It would exchange an identical settlement with Saudi Arabia, price 21 million euros, after it expires subsequent season.
The division didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
($1 = 0.9327 euros)
(Reporting by Elvira Pollina and Yousef Saba; Editing by Matt Scuffham and David Holmes)
