Serie A Restarts Talks for $2B Media Arm Sale

Serie A may be selling a stake in its new media arm after all.

It’s been almost a year since the league initially agreed to enter exclusive talks with a consortium including CVC Capital Partners, Advent International, and Italian fund FSI, which offered $2 billion for a 10% stake in a unit managing Serie A’s media business. 

That plan was derailed in February when seven clubs banded together to block the sale — it needed approval from 14 of the 20 teams.

The Serie A board met Friday to informally restart discussions about the sale, just days after CVC invested $2.5 billion in Spain’s La Liga. Thirty-eight of the league’s 42 teams voted in favor of that deal.

Serie A’s president, Paolo Dal Pino, comes from a media background and told Bloomberg he believes a modern media strategy will generate more revenue.

• On Thursday, it was revealed that Serie A is considering livestreaming some matches on YouTube in the Middle East and North Africa, the main TV international package that has yet to be sold for the league.
• In March, CBS acquired U.S. streaming rights to Serie A and Coppa Italia for $75 million per year.

Like many of Europe’s leagues, Serie A was heavily affected by the pandemic, with losses nearing $1 billion. Selling an equity stake could be the first step to reversing its “unsustainable” financial situation.