What the "stupidity" of Serie A means for the DFL
A look at the other leagues does not bode well. While the Bundesliga is still preparing its TV rights tender in the background, the current marketing problems in other media markets are already very clear.
For example, following the decline in Spain's La Liga, there was also a recent deal in Italy with falling revenues and corresponding trouble. In France, the tender was even canceled due to significantly too few bids.
The days of strong growth are clearly over. "Word has gotten around that other leagues are reaching their limits in their home markets, as in Italy," said the new DFL Managing Director Steffen Merkel when he was introduced in the summer - and he didn't even know the result for Serie A at the time.
"A defeat for Italian soccer"
Instead of the hoped-for billion-euro deal, the Italian league will only receive 900 million euros per year from 2024/25 to 2028/29. "It's a defeat for Italian soccer," complained Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis. "Football will die with this offer." What annoys him above all is that the revenue is even lower than the old contract, which brought 927 million a year for the three years until 2024. Serie A president Lorenzo Casini, on the other hand, was relieved and stated: "A happy ending."
According to Italian media reports, 700 million will come from DAZN in future and 200 million from Sky. The two providers "are not competent, they are not good forItalian soccer," grumbled the boss of the Italian champions. In other words, the same pay-TV providers that are also partners of the Bundesliga. De Laurentiis also complained about "the stupidity of signing a five-year contract".
In France, things are even trickier. The tender was also supposed to generate a total volume of one billion euros per season, but failed in mid-October due to insufficient bids. The long-standing partner Canal+ even refused to submit a bid at all.
DAZN also wants to enter the French market
The conditions seemed favorable. According to media reports, DAZN now also wants to enter the French market, and beIN Sport and Amazon are once again interested in the TV rights - but not at the prices desired by Ligue 1. The league must now hold individual talks.
The debacle was even worse with the last contract, when Mediapro, a newcomer desired by all leagues, entered the bidding. However, shortly after winning the bid, the auction winner was unable to pay. The emergency contract with Canal+ and Amazon Prime Video, which is currently still in force, only generates around 580 million per season instead of the originally estimated 1.15 billion.
Falling revenue in Spain too
In Spain, too, there was recently a deal with falling revenues. According to the trade magazine "Spobis", instead of 1.1 billion, there is only around 995 million per year for the six-year contract that has been in force since the 2022/23 season. This means that only the Premier League will remain stable at 1.632 billion pounds (currently 1.863 billion euros) with the most recent contract for the 2022/23 season.
In view of the developments in the other top five leagues, an increase in revenue for the Bundesliga currently seems unrealistic. Especially as Sky and DAZN, the largest pay-TV providers in Germany, are struggling with profitability and other problems. DFL Managing Director Merkel therefore said: "We do not have the easiest market environment for the tender." If next year's auction were to yield another 4.4 billion euros for four years, that would already be a success.
- Despite the upcoming TV rights tender in the Bundesliga, other leagues such as La Liga and Serie A are facing marketing challenges and declining revenues in their media markets.
- The Italian league, Serie A, recently secured a deal worth 900 million euros per year from 2024/25 to 2028/29, which Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis deemed "a defeat for Italian soccer."
- In France, the TV rights tender for Ligue 1 was canceled due to insufficient bids, and DAZN, a pay-TV provider also partnered with the Bundesliga, is interested in entering the French market but not at the desired prices.
- Even in Spain, La Liga has agreed to a deal with falling revenues, receiving only around 995 million euros per year for the six-year contract that began in the 2022/23 season, less than half of what the Premier League generates for a comparable contract.
Source: www.dpa.com
