The case of Serie A TV rights is being examined by Lega Calcio today. In fact, the Lega assembly chaired by Maurizio Beretta is meeting today: the agenda, as mentioned, is the assignment of TV rights relating to the football championships from 2015 to 2018, even if it seems unlikely that a satisfactory conclusion will be reached already today.
In fact, thirteen offers have reached the table of the League, but the real discussion, the question to be resolved, is the comparison between the offer presented by Sky Italia and the one advanced by Mediaset. Sky presented the richest offers regarding the matches of the main teams, both on satellite (355 million against Mediaset's 350) and on the digital platform (420 million against Fox's 400 and Mediaset's 280).
Complicating the picture, however, is Cologno Monzese's offer for all the other matches. An offer of 306 million which, however, is conditional on obtaining one of the lots with the matches of the main teams. Before the assignment, it will be necessary to understand whether it will be possible to assign all the matches of the main teams on both platforms to a single operator, and to establish the possible validity of Mediaset's conditional offer.
For its part, Sky Italia this morning warned Lega Calcio against assigning Serie A 2015-18 rights through arbitrary criteria not provided for in the call for tenders, insisting precisely on the arguments mentioned above, i.e. the legitimacy of assigning packets of matches from the big to a single entity on both satellite and digital channels and the conditional offer presented by Mediaset.
In the letter accompanying the warning, Sky recalls the very heavy financial commitment made in Italian football, adding that it cannot "accept the idea that the assignment of Serie A rights takes place according to irregular principles and hypotheses and not envisaged in the tender".
A difficult game which, despite the first indications from the advisor Infront, presents a still completely uncertain ending. There is time until Thursday for the solution: it is probable that only then will a decision be reached.
Meanwhile, while awaiting a decision, the Mediaset stock sinks. In the early afternoon, in fact, the Biscione lost more than 2% in Piazza Affari, signaling itself as one of the worst stocks on the Italian list, which in the same minutes travels in negative territory, around -1%.
