Television and Broadcasting

At one time Serie A was seen as the embodiment of all that was stylish in European football.   But now the Italian competition is perceived to have slipped behind those in England and Spain in terms of its financial success and the regard in which it is held by fans.   There have been a number of reasons for this, including allegations that the game in Italy is not always fair and square.   Once that suspicion is implanted in the minds of fans, they tend to stay away from matches and watch them less on television.

Soccer has never been an easy sell in the States, although the MSL has been making steady progress.  But it's still an also ran compared with baseball, American football, basketball, [ice] hockey and even golf.

An out-of-court interim settlement has been reached in a dispute between BSkyB and other content providers about whether the satellite broadcaster should be required to sell on Premier League matches wholesale to other platforms.  The agreement is seen as a 'score draw' by analysts.  BSkyB agreed to stop efforts to block an Ofcom ruling on April 1 that it must sell football content, but it will continue to pursue its main legal challenge to the ruling.  This could take nine months to sort out.

Overseas television deals have increased from 18 per cent of Premier League broadcasting income to 25 per cent in the last financial year and are expected to reach 30 per cent by 2014.  The money is generated through 84 separate contracts covering 211 countries.   This increased emphasis on the overseas market was a sensible move given that the home market was near saturation and the product had clear international appeal.