Serie A is still looking to sell a share in its media rights, but one team owner isn’t convinced it’s the right path.
Aurelio De Laurentiis, owner of top Serie A club Napoli, believes the Italian league would be better off retaining full ownership of its rights.
“I have always been against selling,” De Laurentiis told Reuters.
The league attempted to sell a 10% stake in a new company housing its media rights for $2 billion in 2021. It began to officially form the company in October 2022.
Recently, Goldman Sachs, Searchlight Capital, and Apollo Global Management have all shown interest in acquiring a stake in the new company.
De Laurentiis believes that the league could make better use of the content without another firm’s involvement.
“We should produce the content and then place it with the various platforms – Amazon, Netflix, Apple, DAZN, and Sky,” he said.
Bundesliga is also preparing to sell a stake in its media rights, following in the footsteps of Ligue 1 and La Liga, which have already done so.
Meanwhile, De Laurentiis also had harsh words for FIFA earlier this week.
“Did you see on Netflix what FIFA did?” he said, referring to Netflix’s “FIFA Uncovered” documentary, which explores scandals related to soccer’s global governing body. “They stole millions. They are in Switzerland, out of every European jurisdiction, and nobody controls them.”
