MILAN (AP) — Serie A is going all in for streaming games on the Internet.
The Italian league’s domestic TV rights were assigned to DAZN on Friday for 840 million euros ($1 billion) per season in a move that the Internet service labeled “one of the largest sport streaming deals in history.”
For the next three seasons, DAZN can stream all 10 matches each weekend, while three of them can be shown co-exclusively on another provider.
Serie A chief executive Luigi De Siervo said the deal puts the league “at the vanguard in the worldwide panorama of major sports leagues.”
The vote among the league’s 20 clubs was 16-4 in favor of DAZN over a less lucrative deal from Sky Italia. Genoa, Crotone, Sampdoria and Sassuolo were the only clubs voting to stay with Sky.
Negotiations are still ongoing for the package of the three co-exclusive games, with satellite provider Sky — the longtime holder of the bigger rights package — offering 70 million euros ($80 million).
If the Sky deal is accepted, the total of 910 million euros ($1.07 billion) would be less than the 973 million euros ($1.15 billion) that Sky and DAZN paid for the previous deal expiring at the end of this season.
“DAZN was founded with a vision for premium sports to be more accessible, and this agreement will deliver on that whilst continuing to drive innovation and improve the fan experience,” DAZN co-CEO James Rushton said.
___
More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
