The Mediapro agency has put on the market seven packages of rights to Serie A, the top division of football in Italy.
Bidders have until April 21 to table offers. Minimum prices are only expected to be confirmed in a later document for bidders, while there is no indication that the rights will be exclusive.
The non-exclusive rights will cover three seasons, from 2018-19 to 2020-21.
The packages on offer include all 380 matches for pay-television; two packages each for digital-terrestrial television and IPTV; one covering the matches of the top eight clubs; one covering the matches of the other clubs; and two packages for online platforms – one of which includes every game, while the other includes the matches of the top eight clubs.
Last month, Italy’s antitrust authority, the AGCM, approved Mediapro’s acquisition of the rights from Lega Serie A. The Infront agency managed the rights-sales process on behalf of the Lega.
The regulator insisted that Mediapro cannot compete with established broadcasters in Italy, thereby ruling out the possibility of the agency launching a dedicated Serie A channel – for the time being at least.