Eleven Sports’ deal for Foggia and Palermo rights finally sanctioned

The Serie D league matches of fallen Italian clubs Foggia and Palermo will be shown in Italy by subscription broadcaster Eleven Sports after an exclusive rights agreement was finally approved.

Eleven had been in talks about the rights for weeks but the approval of the LND, the league body that runs Italy’s forth tier, has only now been forthcoming.

Eleven Sports’ coverage will begin on Sunday afternoon with Foggia’s clash with Agropolis and Palermo’s matches against San Tommaso.

Foggia and Palermo were regular participants in the Italian top flight in the early 1990s and 2000s, respectively. However, both clubs have been hit by a series of financial difficulties and have reformed under new identities.

The Aser Media-backed Eleven Sports already holds streaming rights to Italy’s Serie C until the end of the 2022-23 season. The broadcaster has introduced a new €5.99- ($6.58-) per-month subscription for Foggia or Palermo fans to add all the matches of their team to the broadcaster’s other programming output (which also includes Italy’s volleyball Superlega).

The 2019-20 Serie D season kicked off last weekend without the Eleven Sports agreement in place.

Palermo’s opening game against Marsala was broadcast by local station Tr3. Foggia’s away match against Fasano was aired by local network Canale 85.