After testing the open market, Serie A will continue its media rights partnership with CBS for another season.
The league and network announced the extension on Thursday, which will keep all of the top-flight Italian soccer league’s English-language broadcasts on CBS platforms, primarily Paramount+. The deal will also include a minimum of 20 Coppa Italia matches and every Supercoppa Italiana match. In total, CBS platforms will broadcast 420 Italian club soccer matches next season.
Next season’s broadcast rights amount to an extension of Serie A’s current deal with CBS, which was signed in 2024, per Alex Silverman in Sports Business Journal. The agreement is reportedly valued “in the low eight figures” annually, a substantial decrease from the deal Serie A signed with CBS in 2021, which was worth a reported $75 million per year. The 2021-era deal came at a time when streamers were fighting for market share, and European soccer was viewed as a means of acquiring subscribers. The one-year extension is believed to include the same financial arrangements as the reduced deal.
Following the 2026-27 season, Serie A will take its broadcast rights back to market in the United States, hoping to capitalize on a World Cup-fueled boom in interest. American stars including Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie play for some of the top clubs in Serie A, which could spur additional interest in the league.
Other than the English Premier League, top European leagues have struggled to retain solid footing in the American market. Most recently, France’s Ligue 1 received no interest from major American broadcasters and was forced to settle for a five-year deal with the little-watched beIN Sports through 2028-29. Germany’s Bundesliga remains in the market for the 2026-27 season after its six-year deal with ESPN, worth $30 million annually, expired last month.
Whether this summer’s World Cup will have a sizable impact on the market remains to be seen. Recently, a gold medal hockey campaign from Team USA in the Olympics helped surge NHL ratings to multiyear highs. Perhaps a deep run by the U.S. Men’s National Team could have a similar impact for club soccer.
But for now, with many networks already tightening belts in preparation for potential NFL rights negotiations, the market for European soccer looks modest in the United States.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.