BeIN Sports announced it’s holding on to Serie A broadcast rights in seven existing markets — France, Hong Kong, and five other Asian territories — and adding three new ones: Singapore, Malaysia, and New Zealand.
This comes via a renewed three-year agreement with Infront, Serie A’s international media rights partner. The previous contract between BeIN and Serie A was worth a reported $500 million.
In June, BeIN struck a $600 million deal for broadcast rights to the Champions League and other UEFA tournaments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
Discussions about BeIN broadcasting Serie A in the region have not gone as smoothly.
- Serie A accepted a discounted BeIN deal last June after the broadcaster blacked out coverage for a week because the league did not protect the deal’s MENA exclusivity.
- A BeIN spokesperson said “if rights holders don’t tackle piracy, they’ll only receive non-exclusive fees.”
The relationship didn’t improve when the league agreed in May to play three Italian Super Cups in Saudi Arabia — a country with links to sports piracy, including illegal replications of BeIN’s broadcasts.
In turn, BeIN did not bid to extend its Serie A deal at the end of last season.
