Fox Sports loses Italian football, after double dealing by Serie A rights owner
Sports broadcaster Fox Sports has said it will be unable to broadcast the Italian football league, Serie A in Australia after the exclusive rights were accidentally sold to two separate parties.
It appears the agency handling the negotiations MP & Silva sold the rights to both Fox Sports and Al Jazeera, which according to The Australian is preparing to establish its own Australian sports channel next year.
Last month, Fox Sports announced it had secured the Australian broadcast rights to Serie A, however the sports channel this morning issued a statement saying the deal had collapsed and that the rights had been withheld, after it emerged that rights had been sold first, as part a larger multi-territory deal, and then later to Fox Sports.
“This is a very disappointing outcome. We had hoped to bring Serie A back to Australian TV after an absence of 18 months. Italian Football fans are very passionate and we are sorry we will be unable to broadcast Serie A this season,” said Patrick Delany, CEO of Fox Sports in a statement.
That’s a real shame. Would have been brilliant to have Serie A in HD and in English for Aussie football fans. Makes a pleasant change from all EPL all the time.
It’s nice to have La Liga on, but Spain is generally a two-horse race most seasons. This season’s Serie A is a cracking one, with Roma undefeated after 8 matches, and the “Seven Sisters” (Juve, Inter, Milan, Roma, Lazio, Napoli, Fiorentina) all pushing for the title/spots in Europe for the first time in years.
And heaps of action and goals. Just this last weekend we had Juve up 2-0 and eventually getting done 4-2 by Fiorentina, and Inter and Torino 3-3, just to single out a couple of matches. If you haven’t got RAI, jump on a stream for some of the big matches. You won’t be disappointed.
Oh, and FORZA JUVE!
is there a reason you havent named the rights holder?
Hi Jack,
The agency was MP & Silva. Story has been updated.
Cheers
Nic – Mumbrella
Ha ha – sounds like Italy!
Heaven is:
– A French cook
– An Italian lover
– A British policeman
– A German engineer
And everything organised by the Swiss.
Hell is:
– A British cook
– A Swiss lover
– A French Engineer
– A German policemen
And everything organised by the Italians.
Forza Juve – Hurry up and set up in Australia Al Jazeera!
Serie A is a wonderful competition, worthy of it’s own channel in Australia.