Italy

Italian broadcaster Mediaset has confirmed the acquisition of exclusive rights for football’s 2018 Fifa World Cup.

Italian broadcaster Mediaset is set to acquire exclusive rights for football’s 2018 Fifa World Cup.

Italian public-service broadcaster Rai has agreed a sublicensing deal with media company Discovery Communications for rights to the 2018 winter Olympic Games.

Italian public-service broadcaster Rai is understood to be close to a sublicensing deal with Discovery Communications to acquire rights to the 2018 and 2020 Olympic Games.

Ernst & Young has claimed in a letter to the Lega Serie A assembly that an unnamed client of the consultancy is ready to invest at least €1bn ($1.18bn) per season in the body that operates the top division of Italian football, according to Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

Lega Serie A, the organising body of the top division of Italian club football, will launch a new rights tender for its next set of domestic broadcast rights in January, according to multiple reports.

Rai, Mediaset and Sky were all expected to bid this week for a cut-price 2018 Fifa World Cup. The rights in Italy have plummeted in value since the national team failed to qualify for the tournament, losing a play-off to Sweden.

Lega Serie A, the organising body of the top division of Italian club football, has opted to postpone approval of a sales process for its next set of domestic broadcast rights.

Pay-television broadcaster Fox Sports has acquired rights in Italy to the 2017 Fifa Club World Cup, while pay-television operator StarTimes, which broadcasts in sub-Saharan Africa, has extended its deal for the annual football tournament.

International sports broadcaster Eleven Sports has linked up with combat sports distributor Fighting Spirit to deliver live boxing action in Italy and Belgium.

Italian state broadcaster Rai has secured rights to the Ski Classics series of long-distance skiing events.

Sportsfix, an OTT service serving Southeast Asia, has acquired rights in Malaysia for Serie A, the top division of Italian football.

The Ginx Esports TV channel has agreed a carriage deal in Italy with pay-television broadcaster Sky Italia.

Rights-holders are keenly following negotiations between French conglomerate Vivendi and Italian media group Mediaset, which could unblock the impasse over Vivendi’s takeover of the Mediaset Premium pay-television platform.

Italian telecommunications group Telecom Italia (TIM) has finalised the creation of a joint venture with French pay-television broadcaster Canal Plus.

Italian broadcaster Mediaset has agreed a three-season rights deal for the Formula E electric car-racing series as Rome prepares to enter the calendar for the 2017-18 campaign.