Blog: Serie A

Read our latest daily deep dives, hot takes, and exciting updates about the entertainment world. Check out the latest insight from your favourite analyst, or search by coverage areas - music, entertainment and fandom, creator economy and social.

D-Day for sports has finally arrived (…in Italy)

Cover image for D-Day for sports has finally arrived (…in Italy)

Tim Mulligan

29 Mar 2021

Last Friday the sporting world moved one pivotal step closer to a streaming-first future. Sports video subscription service DAZN has now secured the rights to broadcast all Serie A matches for the next three years.

min read

Football looks to build digital engagement through Fortnite collaboration

Cover image for Football looks to build digital engagement through Fortnite collaboration

Alistair Taylor

22 Jan 2021

Endeavor-owned IMG, acting as Epic Games’ licensing representative, has brokered deals with 23 football clubs to appear in the publisher’s free-to-play battle royale-style game Fortnite. Looking to capitalise on an increasingly valuable market, with diversifying revenue streams a paramount objective, sport is starting to play its way into the world of micropayments and in-app purchases, turning fandom into revenue .

min read

Can LiveScore learn valuable lessons from Eleven Sports’ UK failings?

Cover image for Can LiveScore learn valuable lessons from Eleven Sports’ UK failings?

Alistair Taylor

24 Aug 2020

streaming service

Streaming insurgent LiveScore launched its first ever over-the-top (OTT), ad-supported direct-to-consumer (D2C) streaming proposition in the UK back in June, harbouring a similar rights portfolio to that of Eleven Sports’ failed proposition back in 2018 .

min read

TwitchSports: Amazon throws sports into the starting line-up

Cover image for TwitchSports: Amazon throws sports into the starting line-up

Alistair Taylor

29 Jul 2020

Amazon-owned Twitch is no newcomer to sports. However, in a deliberate move to double down, Amazon has conceded that it needs to improve the discoverability of live sporting events for its platform users – so, as of last Wednesday, ‘Sports’ has become a standalone category with the return of Twitch.

min read

DAZN’s belated UK launch: Can it avoid Eleven Sports’ 'mistake’?

Cover image for DAZN’s belated UK launch: Can it avoid Eleven Sports’ 'mistake’?

Alistair Taylor

24 Jul 2020

Media & Marketing

DAZN, the anointed ‘Netflix of Sport’, has announced plans to resume launching its services globally via a beta service covering boxing bouts In July and August, for users who have registered their interest, free of charge, ahead of DAZN’s revamped imminent global rollout.

min read

Bain Capital Fashions Itself Goal-Scoring Opportunity with Tabled Serie A Offer

Cover image for Bain Capital Fashions Itself Goal-Scoring Opportunity with Tabled Serie A Offer

Alistair Taylor

16 Jun 2020

Italian football league Serie A is attracting suitors for an equity share, following a €3 billion ($3.4 billion) ‘tentative offer’ made by Bain Capital for 25% of the league. This opened up competition with equity rival CVC Capital Partners, which offered €2.

min read

Can BT Lay the Smackdown on Its Rivals?

Cover image for Can BT Lay the Smackdown on Its Rivals?

Alistair Taylor

3 Jan 2020

addressable audience

This Saturday at 1am GMT BT will debut its live broadcast for WWE Smackdown, having acquired the exclusive rights from long-term UK broadcaster Sky in June 2019 . This signalled the end of Sky’s tenure as the home of WWE content, which first began broadcasting wrestling coverage to fans back in the 1980s with WWF.

min read

Not So Galactico; What Went Wrong for La Liga?

Cover image for Not So Galactico; What Went Wrong for La Liga?

Alistair Taylor

7 Aug 2019

addressable audience

broadcast deals

carriage partnerships

Joris Evers, La Liga’s head of communications, confirmed last week that the rights holder has withdrawn its tender for broadcast rights to Spanish soccer’s premier league in the UK and Ireland after failing to receive any acceptable bids, due by the 25 th July .

min read

Heavyweight Battle for Premium Sporting Rights Dependent on Three Factors

Cover image for Heavyweight Battle for Premium Sporting Rights Dependent on Three Factors

Alistair Taylor

3 Jun 2019

broadcast rights

The sports rights landscape has changed fundamentally with the emergence of streaming subscription video on demand (SVOD) services. Digital and broadcast rights used to be separate deals entirely, but now the lines are blurred, and competition is heating up for exclusive coverage of the most sought-after sporting rights.

min read

Mediapro Offers Eleven Sports a UK Lifeline!

Alistair Taylor

21 Mar 2019

ad-supported model

carriage partnerships

Streaming service Eleven Sports will now have to table a new offer to maintain its UK La Liga rights, as Mediapro (the agency selling La Liga’s international rights) decides to return La Liga to the UK media rights tender market ahead of the 2019/2022 season.

min read

Fail Fast, Fail Early – Can Eleven’s UK Struggle Aid Future Growth?

Alistair Taylor

21 Feb 2019

Amazon Fire Stick

Eleven Sports announced last week it had successfully agreed long-term distribution agreements with all four TV operators in Portugal – Altice, NOS, Nowo and Vodafone. Achieving this agreement puts Eleven Sports on TV platforms across 3.

min read

Will An EPL Streaming Service Devalue Domestic Rights?

Alistair Taylor

15 Feb 2019

addressable audience

Following the English Premier League (EPL) announcing in November its plans to launch its own streaming service for the next rights cycle (2022-2025), the Sunday Times reported that the EPL is coming close to launching.

min read

Eleven Sports Loses Serie A Rights As Partnership With IMG Ends

Alistair Taylor

1 Feb 2019

audience acquisition

Eleven Sports, the fledgling sports-centric streaming service has lost the UK and Irish rights for Serie A and Eredivisie, following a strategic decision to ‘amicably’ end its partnership with international rights agency, IMG .

min read

DAZN Stepping Up Its Domestic Rights Offering – Insurgent come Enforcer?

Alistair Taylor

17 Jan 2019

Having grown its portfolio for premium international and domestic sporting rights, DAZN is now starting to graduate from a disruptor into an established part of the landscape. Emphasised by its latest plan, aiming to snap up domestic Bundesliga rights in Germany for 2021–2025 (provided the terms are economically viable for the SVOD service), and thus significantly upgrade its German market value proposition.

min read

Knockout Blow For Eleven Sports?

Alistair Taylor

13 Dec 2018

additive service

Audience behaviour

Eleven Sports, the insurgent subscription video on demand (SVOD) service, is considering closing its operations in the UK and Ireland after failing to secure distribution via traditional TV operators. Failure to attract enough subscribers onto its platform since its launch has only increased doubts over the financial viability of the service.

min read

NFL issues warning to streaming services

Alistair Taylor

6 Sep 2018

Amazon Prime Video

Consumer behaviour

As rights holders and tech majors continue to experiment with streaming video on demand (SVOD) services as a way to broadcast sports content, questions are being raised about the ability of streaming platforms to reliably deliver high-demand premium sports events to paying sports fans.

min read

Can Eleven Sports Disrupt the UK Sports Video Landscape?

Alistair Taylor

19 Jul 2018

Eleven Sports is a global sports content provider intent on global expansion. Already established in Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Singapore, Taiwan and the US. Eleven is systematically acquiring new rights to increase its value proposition before launching local channels into new target markets.

min read