Lega Serie A, the governing body of the top division of Italian football, has issued a domestic rights tender for the three seasons from 2018-19 to 2020-21.
A deadline of June 10 has been set for bids, with Lega Serie A targeting a minimum of €1bn ($1.1bn) per season for its domestic rights.
The tender has been split into five core packages and has been designed so no single broadcaster can secure rights to all 380 matches per season.
The packages comprise one for pay-television, one for digital-terrestrial television and two internet packages.
The final package is an all-encompassing one including rights across all platforms. A total of 324 matches per season, 132 of which will be exclusive, are included in the package which has a baseline target of €400m per season.
The issue of the tender today (Friday) comes after clubs in March unanimously approved a new set of guidelines for the centralised selling of the next cycle of rights.
In January, Italy’s antitrust authority, the AGCM, rejected the guidelines outlined by Lega Serie A for the centralised selling of its rights, stating they were too “vague” in their definitions of the process.
AGCM had stated its concern over information regarding indications over which entities were likely to compete for the rights. It said it found it difficult to guarantee the process would comply with Article Six of the Melandri Decree, designed to ensure that participants engage in competitive procedures with “absolutely fair conditions, transparency and non-discrimination”.