There’s some good news for the struggling Italian soccer league amid the Juventus scandal. Many investment firms are showing interest in investing in the media business of the league. Meanwhile, on Friday, one of the prominent American firms offered mouth-watering money for the development of the league, according to the reports. 

Serie A has been struggling even before the Covid pandemic hit. They incurred around $350 million in losses in the 2018-19 season, despite capital gains of $820 million. League’s net debt is rising, and it is trying to strike a good media rights deal to help raise funds. Now, there’s another big proposal on the table for the struggling Serie A from American firm JPMorgan Chase & Co., and the clubs will decide on the proposal next month.

JPMorgan Chase & Co offers a tremendous deal to the Italian soccer league

Serie A is in the process of selling domestic and international media rights after the 2023-24 season. They already have three proposals on the table from last year, and now JPMorgan Chase & Co has registered their preliminary interest in investing in the league. They are ready to offer between $761 million-$1.1 billion in bank financing.

Serie A has conveyed the interest from the American firm to all 20 clubs in a meeting behind closed doors, as per reports. They will meet again next month to decide on JPMorgan and other proposals on the table. Clubs will also meet to discuss the process of the sale of media rights later this year. The main hurdle in striking the deal is reaching the majority of the club’s owners. Serie A will hope to arrive at a concrete decision next month.

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Many firms showed interest last year in buying the media rights the previous year. However, clubs were not able to strike a deal. Apax Partners, Three Hills Capital Partners, Carlyle Group, and Searchlight Capital approached last year. Serie A also failed to strike a $1.7 billion deal with CVC Capital Partners in 2021 because of the opposition from Juventus and Lazio. 

It will be interesting to see how things pan out in the future. But the vital point is Serie A clubs need to invest the money from media rights in development rather than only player transfers and wages.

Serie A struggles beyond money

Serie A clubs have invested the majority of the money from the media rights in covering sporting costs. There have been very fewer investments in the infrastructure, like renovating the stadiums. UEFA chief Aleksander Ceferin highlighted that stadiums in Italy are not at the levels to host major competitions. 

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The competitiveness of the clubs has gone down, and are yet to stamp their authority in European competitions. Inter Milan last won UEFA Champions League in 2010. No club has been able to win the tournament since then. The youth system has not been able to produce significant talents in Serie A. 

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Serie A’s struggles are beyond financials too. The clubs need to change the direction after striking a media rights deal focusing on infrastructure, academies, and marketing. What do you make of JP Morgan’s huge offer? Will the firm help league in changing its fortunes?