Serie A free-to-air: "We are close to an agreement" (V. Spadafora, Italian Minister for Sports)

"We are well advanced in reaching an agreement. It is not easy, Sky Italia has the rights, the free matches have never been allocated to anyone, then there is RAI, Mediaset and DAZN. It is a complex problem but we are getting there," said Vincenzo Spadafora, Italian Minister for Youth and Sports Policies, via Facebook, on 15/06/2020, regarding the broadcast of free-to-air matches of the end of the 2019-20 Serie A TIM season which resumes on 20/08/2020.

The games from the first few matchdays of the restart could be broadcast free-to-air on TV8, a free channel belonging to the operator Sky Italia, according to Italian media. The Atalanta BC (Bergamo) - Unione Sportiva Sassuolo Calcio, match scheduled on Sunday 21/08/2020 (kick-off at 19:30 CET), would be the first one involved (the city of Bergamo, in Lombardy, has been particularly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic).

The public audiovisual group RAI and the free TV group Mediaset, consider that free-to-air broadcasting is contrary to the Melandri Law and would create a competitive advantage for Sky Italia. In return, they would like…