Can Private Equity Solve the Serie A’s Biggest Problem?
Over the last two decades, it has been clear that the Serie A has been left behind in terms of income by the English Premier League and La Liga in Spain. In 2022, La Gazzetta dello Sport reported that the Premier League earnt ten times more TV revenue than Serie A, with a ratio of €2 billion for the EPL to €200 million for the Italian league.
This massive difference in revenue has also been reflected in the cash spent by teams in the transfer market, with the Premier League spending more than triple the amount spent by the Serie A in the 2025 summer transfer window.
Based on the latest UEFA coefficient rankings of the top leagues in Europe, Italy’s Serie A ranks second behind the Premier League, with 7 clubs in UEFA competitions compared to the Premier League’s 9 clubs, which suggests that the level of competition of the Serie A is quite close to that of the Premier League.
However the Premier League is, without doubt, must easier to market on the international level due to the popularity of the English language and the English football culture. The Premier League also has a strong organizational structure, such as its revenue distribution that has allowed it to develop its long term success. It also helps that the recent transfer spending and investments of the Premier League has also brought the world’s best players to England.
According to Matchday Finance, the value of the new media deal cycle of the Premier League, starting this season, has risen by an additional 23% compared to the previous cycle from 2022-25, reaching £2.17 billion. The Premier League’s international rights are also ten-fold of Serie A’s international media deal.
While the Premier League’s international TV revenues continue to grow every year, according to Serie A chief executive Luigi de Siervo speaking to SportsPro, international market had proven challenging, with broadcasters being less inclined to invest in rights.
Many clubs in Italy have reported losses over the last year, including Juventus who reported a loss of €58 million loss for the past fiscal year. (SportsPro) Thus, Serie A has recently reopened to the idea of selling stakes of its international media rights to Private Equity, which would allow the league to receive an instant injection of funds.
This has already been done by counterparts La Liga (Spain) and Ligue 1 (France), who have also recently sold stakes of its international media rights to CVC. However, despite the short term benefits, leagues could lose some of its long-term profits by selling their stakes. Ligue 1’s case has also revealed the limitations of selling stakes to private equity, with the CVC investments proving ineffective in increasing league revenue, as the league recently failed to agree new domestic media rights deals.
According to Reuters, Serie A has recently tasked JP Morgan with reviewing a range of options for its international media rights, including establishing a dedicated media unit and selling a minority stake to private equity firms. It is also looking into data-driven sports media agencies to enhance the Serie A’s reach abroad.
As more information and details get released from JP Morgan’s findings and its private discussions, we will be able to better interpret whether or not selling international media stakes to private equity would be a viable option for the Serie A to solve its biggest issue of profitability, or if the league should take an alternative approach in increasing its TV revenues.