Serie A 2018-19 revenues hit €2.7bn after media-rights increases

Italian football’s Serie A registered a 13.5-per-cent increase in revenues during the 2018-19 season, in part thanks to improved media-rights revenues.

The figures, which have been published by Gazzetta dello Sport, show a jump in revenues from €2.4bn ($2.6bn) in 2017-18 to €2.72bn in the 2018-19 season.

Media-rights revenues accounted for €1.44bn of the 2018-19 total, up from €1.3bn a year earlier.

The league’s “commercial revenues”, including sponsorships monies, rose by €100m to €650m in 2018-19. Matchday revenues remained stable at €285m and “other” revenues generated €350m.

The 2018-19 season marked the start of the Serie A’s new three-year domestic and international media rights contacts.

Domestic live rights to Serie A games are currently held by pay-television platform Sky Italia and subscription OTT service DAZN in deals worth €973m per season.

The international rights rocketed in value with the IMG agency paying just over €380m per season for the contract. The deal also includes club archive rights, betting rights, a marketing spend and fee for access to the broadcast signal.

That agreement represents a near doubling of the fee paid by MP & Silva during the previous cycle.

Media-rights revenues measured in the newly-published figures also include those generated by the Coppa Italia.

Over the last decade, Serie A’s revenues have risen by 57 per cent.

League champions Juventus comfortably generated the highest revenues, generating €494.4m, ahead of Inter Milan (€376.9m) and Roma (€250.9m). Empoli registered the lowest 2018-19 revenue total with just €44.3m.

Along with revenues, costs also rose sharply, a point of concern to clubs still unsure about the financial implications of when (or if) the current season can be completed due to the Covid-19 crisis.

Costs rose from €3bn to €3.55bn as salaries (for all staff) jumped by close to €300m. Excluding loans, combined debts reached €2.48bn, a 15-per-cent year-on-year rise.