MILAN/SHANGHAI: Italian soccer is sticking to its game plan to pull itself out of a steady decline: keep passing the ball to China. The league that runs Italy’s Serie A top division is likely for the first time to sell a separate Chinese package of media rights to try to maximise revenues, said a source close to the upcoming rights auction. Serie A already relies heavily on Chinese investment: two top teams, Inter and city rivals AC Milan, are now in Chinese hands and the competition’s media rights are underwritten by a unit of Chinese entertainment giant Dalian Wanda. Its prospects, though, remain dim as TV audiences for Serie A fall further behind the other big European leagues and Italy’s media industry loses one of its most fervent investors in the game, pay-TV tycoon and former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. In response, Italian soccer is doubling down on China.
Serie A officials declined to comment for this article, but the source said the league was counting on sales of Serie A’s overseas media rights, especially in China, to help it avert a heavy slump in revenues at its next auction, for 2018-2021, due to be held by the summer. The auction is being guided by the league’s advisor and underwriter, Wanda-owned Infront Sports and Media, which aims to boost revenues from Serie A’s international rights by 50 percent to around 300 million euros ($318 million) per season, the source said. Infront is looking to generate around 80 million euros per season from the China rights alone, the source added.
On Saturday, the league has scheduled a much-anticipated local derby between its two Chinese-owned clubs, Inter and AC Milan, at 12.30 pm – prime time in Asia but only lunchtime at home. For Italians, it will be a taste of things to come. Inter, controlled by Chinese retail giant Suning Commerce Group Co Ltd, will play its local rival just two days after Berlusconi finally closed his sale of loss-making AC Milan to a Chinese-led consortium of investors.
Ageing stars: In China, the value of European soccer rights has soared. The English Premier League recently sold its China TV rights for $700 million over three years, reportedly 10 times larger than the previous deal. “You could even say the prices are a bit mad,” said Lou Yichen, a veteran Chinese sports commentator. Italian clubs were once the envy of Europe but hooliganism, match-fixing scandals and run-down stadiums mean attendances at matches have fallen and the domestic game has lost ground to leagues in Spain, England and Germany. Only three Italian teams – AC Milan, Inter and champions Juventus – figure among the 15 most influential European clubs, according to an annual survey by China-based sports marketing firm Mailman Group. Gao Pengfei, 25, a computer programmer and avid football fan in Beijing, watches Serie A but prefers the Premier League because it has more star players and is more competitive.