The award of broadcast rights for Serie A to Sky Italia and Mediaset "is clarifying valuations for the two rivals and may trigger merger activity in Europe's pay-TV market," according to Masoni, Pollina, Holton & Davies of REUTERS. Sky Italia -- a unit of 21st Century Fox -- and Silvio Berlusconi's Mediaset "will both have rights to air matches featuring the eight leading teams in Italy's top division over the next three seasons." Talks are under way to combine Sky Italia in a €10B ($13.6B) deal "with media tycoon Rupert Murdoch's other European TV interests, BSkyB and Sky Deutschland." While the football rights auction "does not have a direct bearing on those discussions, it could pave the way for a deal by helping to pin down the valuation of the Italian arm." Sky Italia and Mediaset "already had rights" to Serie A matches. Under the new deal Mediaset "will broadcast fewer games than currently" and pay €100M ($136M) more. Sky Italia "will pay roughly what is it paying at the moment but have exclusive rights to a larger number of matches." The Italian football league "had considered repeating the auction in view of the legal complaints." But "that was viewed as too risky" for cash strapped clubs facing financial problems "and the grim state of the game" (REUTERS, 6/27). SOCCEREX reported both Sky Italia and Mediaset broadcast the league, but the new deal "will have altered terms." Mediaset "will show fewer games but will pay an increased" €373M ($509M), while Sky Italia will pay €572M ($780M) -- "the same amount it pays under its current agreement -- for more matches exclusively." The €945M ($1.3B) generated from the Serie A rights for the next three-year cycle "is a record for the league" and represents a €114M ($155M) increase on its previous domestic deal (SOCCEREX, 6/27).
