ESPN scores Italian cup football rights
October 3, 2018
ESPN+ and ESPN have reached an exclusive, multi-year rights agreement in the United States for Coppa Italia and the Supercoppa Italiana – the two premier Cup competitions in Italian football. Coppa Italia is Italy’s single-elimination domestic Cup competition, and Supercoppa Italiana is the annual matchup between the winner of Italy’s Serie A versus the Coppa Italia champion. The agreement, combined with the acquisition of 380 Serie A matches, makes ESPN and ESPN+ the exclusive home of Italian professional football in the United States.
Twenty-four Coppa Italia matches will air each year on ESPN+, the first multi-sport, direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service from The Walt Disney Company Direct-to-Consumer & International (DTCI) segment in conjunction with ESPN, which launched earlier this spring. Coverage will begin with the Coppa Italia round of 16 matches in January 2019 through the two-leg, semi-final series in February.
The annual Coppa Italia Final (April 25, 2019) and the one-match Supercoppa Italiana will air live on the ESPN networks (ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNEWS), in addition to ESPN Deportes’ live Spanish-language presentation of the matches.
“Coppa Italia and Serie A are the crown jewels of Italian football,” said Burke Magnus, Executive Vice President, Programming and Scheduling, ESPN. “Having the two properties as part of the foundational sports content on ESPN+ makes the platform a must-have digital network for soccer fans in the United States.”