Serie A seeking to triple overseas media revenue

Italy’s Serie A sees scope for tripling its international broadcast revenue by 2030 due to sluggish growth domestically, shows an internal document, indicating its desire to narrow the financial gap over rival European football leagues. Is.

Serie A achieved just 670 million euros ($657 million) from overseas TV rights sales in the 2021–2024 period, a ninth of the amount earned overseas by England’s Premier League, the world’s most lucrative domestic football competition.

To extract more value from key foreign media markets, Serie A has opened a base in New York and plans to set up overseas offices in locations including London and Abu Dhabi, an internal document seen by Reuters showed.

It is also looking to package content in a variety of formats, including documentaries, similar to the way the Netflix series helped Formula One motor racing gain new fans.

Under a scenario devised by Serie A chief executive Luigi de Sirovo, the league is expected to see international broadcast revenues potentially grow to EUR 1.1 billion in the 2024–2027 cycle, reaching approximately EUR 1.9 billion in the 2027–2030 period. For.

Estimates for the league’s domestic rights point to a potential target of 3.2 billion euros over the 2024–2027 period, with a Serie A pocketed 2.9 billion euros for existing TV deals expiring in 2024.

Serie A’s domestic TV revenue may increase slightly to 3.4 billion euros in the period 2027-2030.

Estimates for Serie A’s media business are included in a document submitted to 20 clubs as the league prepares to launch its upcoming round of broadcast tenders next year.

As part of its ambition to boost its media business, Serie A is considering creating a separate company to handle its broadcast business, despite a challenging landscape including slow economic growth and rising inflation at home.

Such a move could allow the entry of private equity firms interested in investing in the development of the league’s media business, a route that Spain’s La Liga and France’s Ligue 1 have already taken.

Club executives will begin discussions on the media company project at a meeting Friday after being approached by a group of private equity investors led by New York-based funds Searchlight Capital and Carlyle.

Serie A failed to finalize a similar project last year when seven clubs signed a 1.7 billion euro deal to sell a 10 percent stake in the league’s media business to a consortium of private equity investors led by CVC Capital Partners. blocked. Reuters