Spanish agency Mediapro has formally sealed its contract for the domestic rights to Serie A, the top division of Italian club football, through a payment of around €64m ($78.9m), a move that is set to commence talks with broadcasters over carriage of matches from the league.
Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport said Mediapro has made the down payment of €64,050,061 to Lega Serie A, just 24 hours before the expiry of a deadline in which to do so.
The move officially confirms Mediapro as the holder of the rights and comes after Italy’s antitrust authority, the AGCM, approved the deal earlier this month.
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. The rights cover three seasons, from 2018-19 to 2020-21.
The AGCM said Mediapro must distribute the rights “in a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory manner”.
Last month, the Lega accepted an offer from Mediapro that was €1,000 above the minimum asking price of €1.05bn per season after bids in an auction failed to reach the threshold.
The Infront agency managed the rights-sales process on behalf of the Lega.