Clubs in Italy’s top football league, Serie A, were split yesterday about how revenue from media-rights sales should be divided for the coming three seasons, 2012-13 to 2014-15.
The league’s biggest clubs are protesting about having to contribute more from their media rights income than the smaller clubs towards payments to lower league divisions and the league’s media-rights adviser, the Infront Sports & Media agency, according to the Gazzetta dello Sport.
These payments, worth about €170 million ($219 million) per season, are divided in proportion to a club’s rights income, rather than being split equally among the 20 clubs. They cover things like the 10-per-cent ‘mutuality payment’ to support lower-division football and fees due to Infront Sports & Media.
The paper reported that six big clubs – Juventus, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Roma, Napoli and Lazio – are considering legal avenues to change the system.
This is one of a number of issues on the table about how the €1 billion-per-season rights income should be divided.
Another league assembly has been called for next Monday, November 12, in an attempt to break the impasse.