The IMG Media agency has submitted an offer to become the media-rights sales adviser to the Lega Serie A, the top division of Italian football, for the 2015-16 to 2017-18 seasons.
The offer, which encompasses rights to Serie A and the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana cup competitions, is said to guarantee minimum income of €2.979bn ($4.051bn) over the three seasons.
Reports say that IMG would guarantee €986m for the 2015-16 season, €993m for 2016-17 and €1bn for 2017-18. The agency would charge a commission of 15 per cent which would only apply to income brought in above the minimum guarantee.
Earlier this month, Serie A clubs were reported to have agreed in principle to extend Infront Sports & Media’s role as media-rights sales adviser to the Lega Serie A, but not on the terms proposed by the agency.
Infront last month offered to guarantee the league media-rights income of €5.5bn over six seasons, from 2015-16 to 2020-21, to retain its Serie A partnership. The agency’s current six-year deal as adviser is due to expire at the end of the 2015-16 season.
The agency proposed a new contract worth €900m per season for the 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 campaigns, rising to €930m for each of the 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons.
Juventus, Fiorentina, Roma, Internazionale, Sampdoria, Verona and Sassuolo are believed to have proposed an alternative to the terms offered by Infront.
The clubs are said to have agreed in principle to extend Infront’s contract for the three seasons spanning 2015-16 to 2017-18, but not for the additional three campaigns through to the end of 2020-21.