Lega Serie A deal "a tipping point in the migration of sports consumption from pay-TV to OTT" (DAZN)

The Lega Serie A agreement "is one of the largest sports streaming deals in history and is a seminal tipping point in the migration of sports consumption from linear pay-TV to OTT," said the UK based OTT sports platform on 26/03/2021.

Lega Serie A awarded the 2021-2024 broadcasting rights to the Serie A TIM in Italy (7 out of 10 matches on an exclusive basis, and the other 3 on a non-exclusive basis) to DAZN, for €840m per season, the same day. Telecom Italia is a partner in the DAZN offer and will provide 40% of the expected payments to be the reference telecommunications operator for the DAZN offer in Italy. DAZN was competing with Sky Italia, the pay-TV operator that holds the majority of the rights over the 2018-2021 cycle (7 matches exclusively on Sky and 3 on DAZN, total rights: €973m per year).

"There are no ongoing discussions with Sky (about a potential sub-licensing or distribution deal). When we launched the combined offering with Sky (in September 2019), we did so to reach a type of audience that is used to a linear approach and so essentially to make the product and…