Despite Serie A locking up another streaming rights deal in the US with CBS, Serie B is still unknown regarding where fans can find games.
CBS and Paramount+ extended their relationship with the Italian top-flight league via a two-year deal that expires after the 2025/26 season. It ended the long-standing battle for Serie A to find an international partner for its TV rights. That is the same struggle Serie B, the country’s second division, finds itself in.
For now, though, Serie B is following the same practice as Serie A. The failure to secure a domestic and international media rights deal has forced Serie B to re-evaluate its process. Rather than searching for those two at the same time, Serie B has secured a deal for its domestic rights at the 11th hour. New reports state Serie B is signing a domestic rights deal with Amazon Prime Video. Serie B President Mauro Balata confirmed that the negotiation process is concluding. However, there is no information as to how long the deal is, nor do fans know how much Amazon will be paying for these domestic rights.
“The news today is that the league has signed an agreement with Prime Video,” Balata said. “We are defining the technical details. Today we have defined all the legal and negotiating aspects.”
Crucially, this does not apply to the United States. Amazon has forayed into the American soccer media landscape with rights deals involving the National Women’s Soccer League. However, the mega-company will not be airing any Serie B games this season, at least for now.
What this deal between Serie B and Amazon does is clear up the domestic rights process. Now, the league can fully focus on securing rights deals internationally.
Serie B in need of a US streaming home
It is not uncommon to see different broadcasters between the first tier and the second tier. In England, for example, NBC shelled out billions for the rights to the Premier League. However, CBS came in ahead of the 2024/25 season to provide a home for the Championship, League One and League Two. This same trend happened in the past between Serie A and Serie B. While CBS broadcasted the top flight, Helbiz Live had the rights to the lower division. However, Helbiz went out of business, leaving Serie B without an American home.
This, of course, has a major impact on the economic standing of Serie B. Without that revenue, teams in the second division suffer. Serie B and other lower divisions in Italy recently lobbied the FIGC, the group overseeing Italian soccer. These lower divisions asked for more revenue sharing from Serie A, which pulls in the biggest media rights deals.
The inability to locate a deal thus far has garnered suggestions that Serie B could create a direct-to-consumer platform. This provides an inherent risk financially. It would be expensive to create the framework to broadcast the league’s games. The benefit is control over the league, but it can be a challenge to grow an audience for a second-tier competition that needs money.
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