BeIN Media Group has acquired rights to Serie A, the top division of Italian club football, in the Middle East and North Africa, according to La Repubblica.
The Italian newspaper said beIN has struck the deal with the IMG agency, which holds international media rights to Serie A. It added that the agreement is worth €105m ($130m) per season, with beIN to show Serie A matches in both Arabic and English across Mena.
In October, IMG and Italian public-service broadcaster Rai acquired Serie A international media rights in the sales process run by Lega Serie A, the organising body of the top division of Italian club football.
IMG secured Serie A rights internationally, while Rai landed the Italian Communities package: a dedicated Italian-language package specifically intended to serve Italian communities outside Italy. The deals are worth a total of €1.113bn over three seasons, from 2018-19 to 2020-21; €371m per season.
In other news, the Reuters news agency said tenders for domestic and international rights to the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana cup competitions will be launched in the second half of March.
The rights on offer would run for three seasons, from 2018-19 to 2020-21. Rai is the current domestic rights-holder under a three-season deal, from 2015-16 to 2017-18, struck in April 2015.
Telco TIM secured digital rights for the two competitions, including near-live highlights and interviews, across the same three-season period.