TV rights (China): Serie A blocks PP Sports (Suning) from broadcasting due to non-payment

The Lega Serie A blocked the broadcast signal of its matches on the weekend of 05/02/2021 (Matchday 21 of the Serie A TIM) by the Chinese broadcaster PP Sports (PPTV), an Internet and mobile streaming platform belonging to the Suning group, due to the non-payment of its broadcasting contract for the Italian championship, according to Italian media on 08/02/2021.

The Premier League had broken its contract with PPTV in China for non-payment on 03/09/2020 and reached an agreement with Tencent, a Chinese internet services group, for the 2020-21 season on 17/09/2020. The amount paid by Tencent is well below the $233m (€197m) that PPTV was to pay annually over the 2019-2022 cycle, according to the British daily Financial Times.

The international rights to the Serie A TIM are marketed by the British agency IMG, over the 2018-2021 cycle. IMG is paying €371m per season for these rights, which it has not managed to amortise, according to Italian press.

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