Serie A stays on YouTube in MENA

As Italy’s Serie A continues to lack a broadcaster in MENA, the league has announced that it will continue to air matches on YouTube for free in the region.

The league had previously launched a country-by-country MENA broadcast rights tender, after relations with previous rights holder beIN Media soured. On its return from the Covid-19-enforced hiatus, beIN staged a broadcast blackout of the league with the demand of a steep discount on its US$500 million regional rights deal. It accused the league of not doing enough to combat piracy, while tensions were already high following a deal with the kingdom of Saudi Arabia to host a number of Suppercoppa fixtures in the country. 

As such, Serie A announced a deal with Google-owned YouTube for the start of the season, and that arrangement will be continued in the short term following a league assembly meeting. YouTube will host five fixtures each matchweek with Arabic commentary.

During the meeting, the league also announced that it will grant a  “non-exclusive one-month exploratory mandate to various licensees”, with CEO Luigi De Siervo charged with granting these mandates.

Reuters reports that De Siervo has been authorised to mandate sports marketing agencies to secure a broadcast deal in MENA worth €50 million per season.