Italy’s Serie A is currently locked into a three-season deal with CBS Sports worth around $75 million per year through the 2023-24 season. However, it’s long been understood that the Italian soccer league was looking for a big increase in international media rights moving forward. Now, it sounds like they have the financial backing to make it happen.
According to Reuters, JPMorgan Chase has expressed a “preliminary interest” in supporting the development of Serie A’s media rights business. The U.S. bank is one of many financiers who have expressed interest in aiding the league as it preps plans to sell domestic and international broadcasting licenses after 2024.
Per one source, JPMorgan offered to provide between 700 million and 1 billion euros ($761 million-$1.1 billion) in financing though those numbers have not been made public.
Back in October, Reuters said that while Serie A secured around 670 million euros ($657 million) from the sale of overseas TV rights in the 2021-2024 period, their goal is to grow that number to around 1.1 billion euros during the 2024-2027 rights cycle and 1.9 billion euros in the 2027-2030 cycle.
For perspective, England’s Premier League is expected to cross $13.5 billion in overall media rights deals over the next three seasons as they renegotiate their deals.
JP Morgan clearly wants in on the international soccer media rights game. They had also offered support for the breakaway European Super League before those plans collapsed in the wake of protests and outcries over greed.
Per Reuters, the Serie A clubs are expected to meet on Feb. 24 to figure out their response to JPMorgan and other suitors.
[Reuters]
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.