Serie A "made a switch" and assigned its int'l TV rights predominantly to IMG for €371M ($439M) per season -- "nearly double the value of the previous deal," according to the AP. The agreement covers the next three Serie A seasons through '20-21. The previous deal was for €190M per season with MP & Silva. The new figure places Serie A third in Europe for int'l rights after the Premier League (€1.3B ($1.5B)) and La Liga (€636M ($754.4M)), and ahead of the Bundesliga (€240M ($284.7M)). IMG will pay €352M ($417M) for global rights and a betting package, Rai Int'l will provide €4M ($4.7M) for Italian-language rights abroad, and the remaining funds "will be covered by signal providers and league promotions" (AP, 10/11). ESPN.com's Ben Gladwell reported Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis said that he is "mortified" by the price agreed by Serie A for the sale of int'l TV rights. He said, "I'm very disappointed. Compared with what La Liga, the Premier League and the Bundesliga are earning, we still have to make up many years of ground lost due to big mistakes, when for many years our product was not even being seen abroad" (ESPN.com, 10/11).
