DAZN puts its hands on Serie A
Augusto Preta on Reuters

Serie A clubs on Friday awarded DAZN the main domestic rights to screen Italy’s top-flight soccer championship for the next three seasons, two sources said, in one of the largest deals for the streaming service in Europe.

[...] DAZN, which entered the Italian market in 2018, offered some 2.5 billion euros ($2.95 billion) for the rights to screen all Serie A matches in the 2021-2024 period, including exclusive rights for seven out of 10 games per matchday, sources had previously said. DAZN beat a rival bid by Sky, owned by U.S. group Comcast, which had offered 2.25 billion euros for Serie A rights on its satellite and digital terrestrial TV platforms. [...]

[...] The deal with Serie A is one of the largest ever secured by the sport streaming app in Europe with a major soccer league and marks a big advance on DAZN’s current agreement with Serie A. Under an accord expiring in June, DAZN offers its Italian customers three out of 10 Serie A games per matchday. Owned by billionaire Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries, DAZN sealed a technological and distribution agreement with Telecom Italia (TIM) to give its Serie A bid a boost. [...]

[...] In a bid to soothe some clubs’ concerns related to its reach across the country, the sports streaming app is seeking to obtain some TV frequencies in Italy, a source familiar with the matter said. The deal underscores challenges facing traditional pay-TV broadcasters from video streaming app services which saw their popularity rise during the pandemic as people spent more time at home due to COVID-19 restrictions. “The pandemic has helped making video streaming more common in Italy, where users were more traditional”, said Augusto Preta, founder of counsulting firm Itmedia. [...]

Elvira Pollina, Reuters, 26.03.2021

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