In addition to JPMorgan, many fund companies are said to be interested in the Series A transfer licenses.
(Photo: Bloomberg)
Rome According to insiders, the largest US money house JP Morgan is interested in the media business of the Italian soccer league Serie A. The 20 clubs in the Italian top league found out about the interest of the US bank in an internal meeting on Thursday, said three people familiar with the process Reuters news agency.
According to an insider, JP Morgan is said to have announced financing of between 700 million and one billion euros. Serie A wants to sell the domestic and international broadcasting licenses of football matches after the 2024 season.
Not only JP Morgan, but also many fund companies see this as an investment opportunity. Neither Serie A nor the bank wanted to comment on this. According to consistent media reports, there should be another meeting between the parties in February.
Actually, the streaming service Dazn had hopes for the transmission rights for the next five years. The British group, which is also active on the German market and owns parts of the Champions League rights here, has had Serie A in its portfolio since the market launch in 2016.
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The new possible billion dollar deal would be a positive distraction for the league. Only recently did public prosecutors investigate Juventus Turin for negative headlines. The sports court of the Italian federation decided to punish the “old lady” with a deduction of 15 points in the championship because of accounting fraud. The Italian record champions fell from third to tenth place.
JP Morgan wanted to fund the Super League
The US bank almost came to a deal with European football as early as 2021: At that time, several of the top clubs, led by Juventus, Manchester United and Real Madrid, wanted to set up a Super League in which only the best of the best would play together measure up. At the time, JP Morgan wanted to support the development of the league with 3.5 billion euros. Because of fan protests, especially from England, the league plan burst 48 hours after its publication.
Another fund that has already expressed an interest in the Italian league rights is Searchlight Capital, a fund group of the Carlyle Group. According to media reports, the private equity company Apollo Global Management is now apparently also interested.
Among the Big Five, the five largest football leagues in Europe, Serie A comes fourth with a turnover of 2.5 billion euros. The Spanish La Liga had a turnover of almost three billion euros in the 2020/2021 season, the Bundesliga was just ahead. The British Premier League has outperformed everyone else for years, also thanks to TV deals worth billions. In the same period, it turned over almost 5.5 billion euros.
With agency material
More: Juventus Turin share collapses after point deduction in the league