After the debacle on the Champions League, which Mediaset acquired exclusively for the three-year period 2015-18, Sky is preparing for revenge by betting everything on Serie A: Murdoch's group in fact offers for the big names in the Italian league (the next rights are divided into two tranches: the 8 "best" and the other 12, with two separate bid slots) the beauty of 770 million euros while the Biscione at this point tries to grab the "minor" teams.
The tussle for football TV rights is getting underway, with Sky launching the offensive for the exclusive three-year period (again 2015-18) on the big names, both on satellite and digital. Mediaset, which has already invested a monstrous amount for the Champions League, for now remains on the sidelines and relaunches with 300 million euros put on the plate for the remaining 12 Serie A teams (therefore most of the matches, quantitatively).
However, Cologno Monzese remains in the lead in terms of the overall offer: considering all the Mediaset packages, it is in fact the operator that has made the greatest financial commitment, playing for a 1,09 billion chip. If Lega Calcio, assisted by the advisor Infront, assigned the packages on the basis of the economic proposal alone, Sky would therefore have all the matches of the big names for both satellite and digital terrestrial and Mediaset would only have the licenses of the minor teams.
However, the assignment – for which the Lega Calcio will have 21 days of time – is becoming a rebus becoming the subject of careful evaluation by the organizers and consultants.
