Serie A issued US$500m threat as BeIN flexes muscle over Saudi Supercoppa deal - SportsPro (original) (raw)

Serie A faces losing UK£390 million (US$500 million) in overseas TV rights due to a backlash over its deal with Saudi Arabia to host next month’s Supercoppa Italiana between Juventus and Lazio.

The top-flight Italian soccer league has refused to back down in the face of protests by BeIN Sports that the match is being played in a country responsible for mass piracy of the Qatari channel’s content.

Now the Doha-based broadcaster has said it is considering cancelling all its agreements in Italian soccer which are valued at UK£390 million, accounting for more than half the league’s overseas rights deals.

BeIN Sports currently broadcasts the Italian league in France, North America, the Middle East, Asia, Spain and Turkey.

It compares to just UK£17.5 million (US$22.5 million) which Serie A gets from Saudi Arabia for a contract to host three matches in five years between the winners of the league and Italy's premier domestic cup competition.

• Supercoppa Italiana heads to Saudi Arabia for second year running

The row comes nearly a year after Saudi Arabia hosted the first Supercoppa in the wake of the killing of the Washington Post journalist, Jamal Khashoggi.

At the time human rights groups appealed to Serie A bosses not to allow Riyadh to use the high prestige event to rebrand its tarnished image, or ‘sportswash’, following the dissident’s murder in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

But the row is now centred on the wholesale piracy by the rogue Saudi Arabian station, BeoutQ, for which BeIN is suing for US$1 billion in damages.

BeoutQ began its illegal transmissions via the Riyadh-based satellite channel, Arabsat, in 2017 following a diplomatic row.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain launched a blockade of Qatar, accusing it of cosying up to Iran and supporting terrorism, which Doha denies.

A Saudi ban on BeIN’s satellite decoder boxes meant the authorities in Riyadh had to resort to piracy in order for sports fans in the desert kingdom to still be able to view the crown jewels of sport, from the Premier League to the Fifa World Cup.

Last year BeIN cancelled its deal with Formula One, worth UK£25 million (US$30 million) to UK£30 million (US$40 million) a year, after warning it would cut spending with rights holders unless they did more to stop BeoutQ pirating its content.

And in a hard-hitting statement BeIN this week confirmed it was planning a similar move on Serie A.

A spokesman said: ‘BeIN is actively reconsidering its entire commercial relationship with Serie A following the league's decision to go ahead with its Super Cup match next month in Saudi Arabia, the country responsible for the mass theft of the league’s premium sports rights for over two years.

‘It is astonishing that the league has decided to press ahead despite all the evidence of the damage that has been done to the league's business by BeoutQ, Saudi’s pirate operation.

‘It is remarkable what Serie A is seemingly prepared to jeopardise – not only all the financial revenues from one of its biggest broadcaster partners, but also the exposure BeIN gives to the league in markets all around the world, from Europe to Asia and all across the Middle East and North Africa. Serie A’s leadership is putting at risk all of this, in favour of making a quick buck from the very entity that has been stealing its rights for two years.’

A report by Enders Analysis has described Serie A as one of the most dysfunctional leagues in Europe ‘because the majority of its clubs are loss-making, lacking investment and in sporting decline’.

The value of its pay-TV revenues has fallen eight per cent between 2009 and 2019 compared to other countries which have seen rises of up to 158 per cent.

Italy’s league is the fourth largest in Europe, trailing well behind the Premier League.

According to Deloitte’s Sports Business Group’s 2019 review of Football Finance, none of the country’s teams made the top ten ranking by revenue, with Juventus at number 11.

Luigi de Siervo, who heads Serie A, said the Supercoppa would go ahead as planned.

He said: “When I was elected as Lega Serie A chief executive in February 2019, I found a multi-year agreement to play the next Italian Super Cup finals in Saudi Arabia.”

He told Bloomberg that the league “could not fail to honour the contract” as the piracy has been curtailed, something which BeIN contests.

Serie A faces losing £390m ($500m) in overseas TV rights due to a backlash over its deal with Saudi Arabia to host next month’s Supercoppa between Juventus and Lazio.

The Italian football league has refused to back down in the face of protests by beIN Sports that the match is being played in a country responsible for a mass piracy of the Qatari channel’s content.

Now the Doha-based broadcaster has said it is considering cancelling all its agreements with Italian soccer which are valued at £390m, more than half the league’s overseas rights deals.

beIN Sports currently broadcasts the Italian league in France, North America, the Middle East, Asia, Spain and Turkey.

It compares to just £17.5m ($22.5m) which Serie A gets from Saudi Arabia for a contract to host three matches in five years between the winners of the league and the cup final.

The row comes nearly a year after Saudi Arabia hosted the first Supercoppa in the wake of the killing of the Washington Post journalist, Jamal Khashoggi.

At the time human rights groups appealed to Serie A bosses not to allow Riyadh to use the high prestige event to rebrand its tarnished image, or ‘sportswash’, following the dissident’s murder in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

But the row is now centred on the wholesale piracy by the rogue Saudi Arabian station, beoutQ, for which beIN is suing for $1bn in damages.

BeoutQ began its illegal transmissions via the Riyadh-based satellite channel, Arabsat, in 2017 following a diplomatic row.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain launched a blockade of Qatar accusing it of cosying up to Iran and supporting terrorism, which Doha denies.

A Saudi ban on beIN’s satellite decoder boxes meant the authorities in Riyadh had to resort to piracy in order for sports fans in the desert kingdom to still be able to view the crown jewels of sport, from the Premier League to the FIFA World Cup.

Last year beIN cancelled its deal with Formula One, worth £25-£30m ($30m to $40m) a year, after warning it would cut spending with rights holders unless they did more to stop beoutQ pirating its content.

And in a hard-hitting statement it this week confirmed it was planning a similar move on Serie A.

A spokesman said: ‘beIN is actively reconsidering its entire commercial relationship with Serie A following the league's decision to go ahead with its Super Cup match next month in Saudi Arabia, the country responsible for the mass theft of the league’s premium sports rights for over two years.

‘It is astonishing that the league has decided to press ahead despite all the evidence of the damage that has been done to the league's business by beoutQ, Saudi’s pirate operation.

‘It is remarkable what Serie A is seemingly prepared to jeopardise – not only all the financial revenues from one of its biggest broadcaster partners, but also the exposure beIN gives to the league in markets all around the world, from Europe to Asia and all across the Middle East & North Africa. Serie A’s leadership is putting at risk all of this, in favour of making a quick buck from the very entity that has been stealing its rights for two years.’

A report by Enders Analysis has described Serie A as one of the most dysfunctional leagues in Europe ‘because the majority of its clubs are loss-making, lacking investment and in sporting decline’.

The value of its Pay-TV revenues has fallen eight per cent between 2009-2019 compared to other countries which have seen rises of up to 158%.

Italy’s league is the fourth largest in Europe, trailing well behind the Premier League.

According to Deloitte’s Sports Business Group’s 2019 review of Football Finance, none of the country’s teams made the top 10 ranking by revenue, with Juventus at no.11.

Luigi de Siervo, who heads Serie A, said the Supercoppa would go ahead as planned.

He said: ‘When I was elected as Lega Serie A CEO in February 2019, I found a multi-year agreement to play the next Italian Super Cup finals in Saudi Arabia.’

He told Bloomberg that the league ‘could not fail to honour the contract’ as the piracy has been curtailed, something which beIN contests.

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