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Italy’s Serie A reportedly considering bid to acquire broadcaster Sky Italia

Italy’s top football clubs are reportedly discussing plans to acquire all or part of pay TV broadcaster Sky Italia from US media giant Comcast.

Luigi de Siervo

Clubs from top-flight football division Serie A, which consists of 20 teams including Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Napoli, have met with league executives in Milan to discuss various proposals from private equity firms and banks, according to a Reuters report. The news was first reported by La Stampa.

Among the options on the table are a shock bid by the league for Sky Italia, which Serie A boss Luigi de Siervo sees as a potential platform to go direct-to-consumer.

According to the reports, the bid from Serie A could solely target Sky Italia’s sports division or the entirety of the pay TV broadcaster. A bid for the latter would be made in partnership with a third party, with various international banks reportedly interested in joining the bid.

It is not known if Comcast, which did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for comment, would be willing to sell its Sky business in Italy. The US media giant is already considering selling all or part of its business in Germany, with France’s Canal+ reportedly among the interested parties.

It comes as the current broadcast rights deal for Serie A are set to expire in 2024, with sports streaming service DAZN currently holding most of the rights and Sky Italia airing three matches each week while offering paid access to DAZN.

Sky Italia is the largest pay TV operator in Italy and one of the largest in Europe, serving approximately 4.73 million subscribers and distributing more than 150 channels, mainly via satellite.

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