Telecom Italia Renews Deal with Sport Streaming Service, DAZN

Telecom Italia (TIM) has renewed its deal with sports streaming service provider DAZN. Under this deal, TIM will continue airing top Serie A league matches during the next five seasons.

The new agreement will also see TIM continue paying between 43 and 46 million euros annually to aid Serie A games on TimVision, according to sources that spoke with a local publication, Corriere della Sera. TimVision is Telecom Italia's video content platform.

According to the local publication, the deal was signed on December 23. It will run until the 2028/2029 season, and TimVision will now air Serie A matches for the next five years.

Extending a 1 Billion Euro Deal

The deal is an extension of another one that is already in place. TIM and DAZN first secured an exclusive distribution partnership for Serie A in 2021 after securing a three-year deal worth around 340 million euros annually.

The current deal will expire in June. It was previously restructured in 2022 and became a non-exclusive collaboration after TIM recorded a series of profit warnings. The company's financial position at the time was partly attributed to the cost of securing an exclusive contract with DAZN.

TIM secured this deal with DAZN in 2021 to grow its broadband and pay-TV services. TIM is the largest telecoms group in Italy. Its pursuit of Serie A matches aims to strengthen its industry dominance by attracting more users.

The partnership between TIM and DAZN has not been rosy as it fell short of expectations in 2021. At the time, TIM considered reducing the fees paid to DAZN under the deal.

In December 2021, TIM held a board meeting to discuss this deal and potentially renegotiate the contract terms with DAZN.

This deal is attributed to the former chief executive at TIM, Lugi Gubitosi. He stepped down shortly after the agreement amid a conflict with investors. The renewed contract shows that the partnership is now bearing fruit.

DAZN Keeps Rights to Serie A

In October, DAZN was confirmed to hold the rights to air live Serie A matches in Italy over the next five seasons. DAZN will share the screening rights with Sky.

DAZN secured the rights after around four months of negotiations. Serie A league officials received bids worth over 4.5 billion euros. The final offers by DAZN and Sly amounted to approximately 900 million euros annually, running until the end of the 2028/2029 season.

DAZN offered 700 million euros to air all Serie A matches for the five seasons, while Sky Italia offered 200 million euros to air three out of 10 Serie A games during each matchday.

The deal is slightly below the annual value of the current terms. Seventeen Serie A clubs backed the deal, while three opposed it. The terms of this deal with DAZN and Sky also attracted criticism from the owner of the Napoli club, Aurelio De Laurentiis.

During a press briefing shortly after DAZN and Sky winning bids were announced, Laurentiis retorted that the deal was a total defeat for Italian football." He added that Italian football was doomed by the terms accepted in such deals.

| Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has said that Italian football will die" after DAZN and Sky kept rights to screen live matches in Serie A for the next five seasons. pic.twitter.com/dXJMSsARkf

- TTS. (@TransferSector) October 23, 2023

While companies like DAZN, Sky, and TIM fight for deals to boost viewership and revenues, the same applies to Serie A teams. These screening rights are a major source of revenue for Serie A teams that include Napoli, Inter Milan, AC Milan, and Juventus.

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