Italy: pay-TV Sky group acquires the Europa League TV rights for 2015-2018

The Italian pay-TV group Sky Italia has acquired the exclusive audiovisual rights, in Italy, to the Europa League for the 2015-2018 period, according to Italian press on 10/02/2014.

The amount of the acquisition from TEAM Marketing, the agency that manages and markets the TV rights to the club competitions of UEFA, was not disclosed, but "the value is consistent with the current market," said Sky Italia to the Italian news agency ANSA on 10/02/2014.

Sky Italia is the holder of the audiovisual rights, in Italy, to the Champions League and Europa League for the 2012-2015 period. In a sub-license deal, the group sold the rights to broadcast the best Champions League match on Wednesday evening on free-TV over the 2012-2015 period, and one Europa League match on Thursday evening on free-TV for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons, to the Italian free and pay-TV group Mediaset.

• Mediaset was awarded the exclusive broadcast rights to the 2015-18 Champions League in Italy on 10/02/2014. The amount of the acquisition was estimated by Italian media at €700m, just over €230m per season.