CBS Wins Rights to Serie A in U.S.

Thanks to a new media rights deal between CBS and Serie A, U.S. soccer fans will get to watch a lot more of Cristiano Ronaldo. The broadcast rights run for three years at $75 million per year, per Associated Press.

“In a strategic area like the U.S. we have increased by more than 30% the value of our rights with a top partner in CBS,” said Serie A CEO Luigi De Siervo.

CBS also owns media rights to the UEFA Champions League, the National Women’s Soccer League, and Argentina’s Liga Profesional de Futbol.

ESPN was the previous owner of Serie A’s U.S. media rights, which it purchased through IMG. In 2017, IMG bought all of the league’s international rights for nearly $450 million per season, then sold them off country by country.

Under the new contract, the league will try to sell rights to each country directly.

Serie A is an Italian soccer league, but five clubs have North American owners: AC Milan, Roma, Fiorentina, Parma, and Bologna. The presence of North American ownership “played a role” in the new CBS deal, per De Siervo.

Streaming service DAZN is in the lead for Serie A’s domestic media rights in Italy with an offer of roughly $1 billion per season. If not assigned by Monday, the offer will expire, triggering a new auction process.