ESPN has added the Coppa Italia and Italian Super Cup to its ever-growing list of soccer properties it has the rights to in the United States.
According to SportsPro, “The duration of ESPN’s rights deal for the two cup competitions has not been announced, but it is likely to run from this season until 2020/21, in line with the Serie A rights deal.”
With ESPN acquiring the rights to Serie A, Coppa Italia and the Italian Super Cup, it is now the home to Italian soccer in the United States. The only exception is RAI Italia, which broadcasts many of the Serie A games in Italian via satellite and fuboTV.
SEE MORE: Schedule of Serie A games on US TV and streaming
The Coppa Italia kicks off in late July/early August and usually concludes in May/June. Meanwhile, the Italian Super Cup (aka Supercoppa Italiana) is this season scheduled for mid-January, 2019 and will feature a game between Juventus and Milan.
Presumably, most (if not all) of the Coppa Italia and Italian Super Cup games will be featured on the ESPN+ streaming service. ESPN+ also includes the Championship, UEFA Nations League, A-League, Chinese Super League, Eredivisie, League Cup, FA Cup, MLS and USL.
I wonder with the ever growing list of available content if espn can keep the price @ $ 4.99 a month
We’ll have a story about it (and other things related to ESPN+) next week to follow up on the exclusive interview we had with the executive behind the streaming service.
It’s important to note that Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, has been very clear that ESPN+ is a pilot project for the coming Netflix-competing Disney service focused on more general entertainment that the future of the company is banking on. ESPN+ is helping them workout kinks on the technical and marketing aspects so that they can be a legitimate Netflix competitor with no kinks from day one, which is a large reason Disney upped their stake in BAMtech (the streaming tech behind HBONow/HBOGo, PSVue, MLB.tv) from 33% to 75% in 2017.
As far as financial viability, ESPN already claims over 1 million ESPN+ subs ($60 million/year) and they’re targeting 2 million next year ($120 million/year), meaning the service is likely well into the black considering the properties it has, while numerous, don’t really add up to tens of millions of dollars in cost.
Wonder how many of those subscribers are still on the free one month trial though. I’ve been a “subscriber since week 2 of Serie A and yet to actually pay a dime. 7 days free through Amazon then one month through the espn website after that expired.
I just don’t see it lasting honestly. I figure this 4.99 a month thing was something to catch cord cutters. I see this going up to 10.00 a month thing. With the UFC coming exclusively to ESPN+ next year, I don’t see how it can stay that cheap. I would love to be proved wrong.
Some of ESPN+’a content was previously available on ESPN3 without additional cost to cable/satellite subscribers. Also, some revenue gains should me seen from customers attracted to the new content at an affordable price (without increasing the monthly rate).
I like espn+ at $4.99 but would likely dump it if there was an increase. I can see others who don’t root for an Italian team feeling the same way.
ESPN could get the most soccer rights like Bundesliga,La Liga,and more.
I could see them moving for La Liga eventually although that rights deal wont be up until 2022 maybe ? they did a long term deal a year or two ago with BEIN Sports. But would be nice to be able to watch all the Spanish League games on the ESPN + platform weekly. It certainly has been great to be able to choose what Italian game you want to watch.
Bein’s La Liga deal ends in 2020.
I think Bein Sports won’t have the rights until 2020. I recently saw an interview with La Liga president Javier Tebas and it sounds like he’s not happy with the situation Bein Sports is in. Apparently La Liga is working on a solution to get La Liga matches on in more households in the US and Canada. I can see a situation where La Liga terminates the contract it has with Bein Sports.
Univision could get la liga TV rights in 2020? For English language to be determined by next year bid.
I am glad they finalized this, I was asking about this when they first acquired the rights to Serie A. Sure does make Italian Calico complete when your able to see all of these games they have in the midweek.