Sky Italia Willing To Offer More Money To Gain Exclusive Serie A Broadcast Rights

Sky Italia is "reportedly ready to offer even more money" for Serie A TV rights,  but "only in return for exclusivity," according to FOOTBALL ITALIA. The pay-TV broadcasters are reportedly "prepared to bid in excess of" the €561M ($757M) they tabled for rights from '12-13 to '14-15. There is "currently no exclusivity for the sale of football rights in Italy," but Sky "would like that introduced for a number of packages that will go on the market" for the '15-18 period (FOOTBALL ITALIA, 9/23). TELECOM PAPER reported Sky Italia and Mediaset "have denied any collusion regarding the sale of the TV rights to football matches in the Serie A." Sky Italia CEO Andrea Zappia said that the "real anomaly is that Italy is the only country where there is no exclusivity in the sale of football rights, adding that there is not a sale per product, but rather per platform." The result "is a devaluation of the product and a negative impact on operators' profits" (TELECOM PAPER, 9/23).