Nothing extension a Dazn e Sky by and tv rights of the championship: if the A league he will want to continue broadcasting his matches on the two broadcasters, he will have to do it through a new tender, and a new contract. In the end the push and pull on the umpteenth proposal of Lotito in Parliament ended in a stalemate: theamendment to the decree One thousand extensions got stuck in the doubts of the Quirinal and above all of the government (that is, of Minister Abodi), and in the end it was quashed.
The proposal was essentially to amend the Melandri law which regulates the sale of TV rights, in order to be able to change the duration of the contract from the current three to five years. Not only for the future, however, as already requested and obtained for the sale of rights abroad, but also on a national level retroactivelyfor existing contracts. The current agreements with Dazn and Sky expire at the end of next season (2023-2024), with the Lotito amendment they could have been extended under the same conditions for two more championships (until June 2026). Basically a parachutea plan B in case offers do not arrive at the next tender that meet the expectations of the Lega.
The very active lot in the Senate he is unscrupulously playing the role of lobbyist of the ball. After being able to put the “save-Serie A” (where he had already proposed the extension for the first time), now he is dedicating himself to TV rights, the real hot topic of the coming months for Italian football, which literally depends on survival on this match. But he had to clash with the government, which after the doubts filtered through the press by the Quirinale even went so far as to present a suppressive counter-amendment to cancel the proposal that had already been approved in the Commission.
So much opposition within the same majority of which Lotito (elected with Forza Italia) is a part, could appear surprising. After all, the amendment had zero burden for the state and it was clearly an extension, so it cannot even be said that it was not pertinent to the provision (if anything, one can discuss its own legitimacy to the terms of the obligations of competition on the market). Moreover, it is also a rather useless battle, because obviously the extension would not have been automatichowever, had to go from amarket survey to ascertain the lack of improved offers, and then obtain the consent of Dazn and Sky, which however at that point, after an unsuccessful tender and in a position of strength, could hardly have an interest in renewing an old contract unfavorable to them, because too onerous (for Dazn) or unsatisfactory (for Sky).
In short, the Lotito award had reckoned without the innkeeper, but even if it was rejected, it still tells us two things. The first is that the clash continues in the palaces of power between Lotito, who in Parliament poses as minister of football, and Andrea Abodi, who would be a minister and does not like to be continually overtaken by the personal initiatives of the senator-patron. A state of conflict which, however the single battles end up, is not good for the system. The second fact is the great concern in view of the forthcoming call for TV rights. Dazn’s experience was anything but exciting, the market is saturated and without the arrival of new player (there is a lot of talk about Amazon, but it was also talked about three years ago) there is the real risk of a downward auction: in 2019 the managing director of the Football League, Luigi De Siervo, managed to pull the rabbit out of the hat Tim, strategic partner of Dazn’s pharaonic offer, will now try to repeat the magic but it is not certain that he will succeed again. Serie A seriously fears stopping well below the famous billion per season that pushes the bandwagon forward.
Thus Lotito (and with him more than one president) thought as a last resort to extend the current contract, waiting for better times, and in fact the amendment was welcomed by the president of the League, Lorenzo Casini (whose proximity to Lotito is no mystery), but also from urban Cairo. Without a regulatory change, however, it cannot be done and the government did not want shortcuts: at most one law reform on TV rights it could be part of a system provision that Minister Abodi is working on, but it will hardly be ready in time to be exploited immediately. The next call for Serie A will be a leap of faith. Without even the parachute.
Twitter: @lVendemiale