TV rights: the amendment is approved in the Senate, Dazn can keep Serie A until 2026

The contract that Dazn has with the Lega Serie A for the broadcasting of all the matches in the championship could be extended by two years, beyond the natural expiry of 2024. Ditto that of Sky which has the co-exclusivity of three of the ten matches. This could be the double effect of the amendment presented by Claudio Lotito and approved today by the Constitutional Affairs and Budget Committees of the Senate. The president of Lazio, as well as a senator of Forza Italia, had also presented it in recent weeks, but at the time he had not passed. This time, however, it has been included in the Milleproroghe law decree which provides, “where there are economic reasons”, that “the contracts for sports images in progress” may be extended for the necessary time and in any case not beyond the total duration of 5 years. Translated, from 2024 we can get to 2026 keeping the current figures unchanged (940 million). For this to happen, as stated in the amendment, however, “a market survey aimed at verifying whether other operators can offer better conditions” is necessary. Naturally, it should be via Rosellini to lead it.

NOTICE AND WILL

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Serie A, with CEO De Siervo at the forefront, was working to prepare a tender for the three-year period 2024-27 that would attract as many operators as possible, including Telcos. There is now an alternative card available, should incoming bids be deemed insufficient. However, this is not a solution that will pass automatically because, in addition to the will of Serie A, that of Dazn and Sky will also have to be listened to which in recent weeks, also thanks to the first “rejection”, did not expect that the Lotito amendment could overcome the doubts of constitutionality and the internal opposition of the majority. Instead, the note relating to the market survey and the solid support of Forza Italia made it possible to overcome the resistance. However, Dazn and Sky must give their go-ahead for the extension, otherwise Lotito’s work will have been in vain.