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Amazon is reportedly vying for the rights to broadcast Italy’s Serie A on Prime Video.
Comcast’s Sky Sports is the e-commerce giant’s competition for a three-year, $4.2 billion deal to air one of the world’s biggest football leagues. Serie A set a Jan. 26 deadline to sell the rights.
The potential bidding war comes as Serie A, like most major professional leagues, looks for new revenue streams. Its 2020 revenue was projected to be $2.4 billion, dropping from $2.9 billion in 2019, according to analysts at Deloitte.
Broadcast deals currently account for approximately half the league’s revenue.
Serie A recently created a new company to handle its media rights and sold 10% to American private equity firms CVC Capital Partners and Advent International, along with Italy’s FSI Fund, for over $2 billion.
It’s also gotten an influx of cash from a slew of new American owners last year, bringing the total number of American-owned European football teams to five.
Amazon recently acquired rights to select English Premier League matches. The company has started to make other moves internationally, acquiring the rights to cricket’s Indian Premier League and New Zealand Cricket matches in India.
As for American football, Amazon has pushed further into NFL rights — airing its first exclusive game this season.
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