Italy: TIM (telecom) will no longer be the title sponsor of the Serie A from 2018-19 (press)

TIM, a brand of the Italian telecommunications group Telecom Italia, will not renew its contract as the title sponsor of the Serie A TIM beyond the 2017-18 season, according to the Italian daily newspaper La Repubblica on 22/02/2018.

Italian media reports that TIM has changed its marketing strategy, as illustrated by its positioning on Lot C of the 2018-2021 Serie A audiovisual rights (broadcast of 248 league games per season on digital and mobile platforms) with an offer of €30m per year, lower than the floor price (€160m per year).

The Lega Serie A fears that the mobile operator will not renew its title sponsorship for the 2018-2021 period, and has already set out in search of a new, preferably Italian, partner added La Repubblica.

"We will evaluate new proposals for the title sponsorship of the league and other sponsorship agreements later," said Carlo Tavecchio, then interim administrator of the Lega Serie A, after the Italian League's ordinary assembly organised in Milan (ITA) on 04/01/2018.

TIM has held the naming rights of the Italian first division since 1998-99. The…