The Italian government and Serie A are reportedly in a standoff over a law that prevents the top-flight football league from agreeing a broadcast rights deal with a single party and distribute revenue differently, according to reports on June 10.
The proposals to amend the ‘Melandri Law’ are to repeal certain regulations surrounding how revenue is distributed across Italian football and sport, in what the government stated as an objective to “pursue the best possible economic result”.
In a bid to modernise Italian football in line with international standards, the government is seeking to introduce a measure that will block the Serie A from agreeing a broadcast rights deal with a single TV network or streaming service.
The government has also proposed a new strategy as part of the draft bill on how to split the revenue from domestic broadcasters by at least 50% equally among Serie A clubs. A higher increase has also been lodged for revenue to support other sports in Italy.
What is the Melandri Law?
The Melandri Law is a rule that was implemented in 2008 that declares broadcasting rights deals must not exceed three years and must adopt a tender process for incumbent partners interested.
However, the law was amended last in 2022 which enabled sporting leagues like Serie A to negotiate broadcast rights deals that surpass the three-year window, as well as being able to negotiate with TV networks and/or streaming services abroad in a bid to maximise revenues and increase the international visibility of Italian sports leagues.
The decree states that competition organiser – in this case Lega Serie A; the governing body of Serie A – and event organiser (Serie A) have joint ownership of the broadcast rights, with the competition organiser being the exclusive licensor of broadcasting rights deals.
How have Lega Serie A reacted?
Upon hearing the news via the press, Lega Serie A President Ezio Simonelli has firmly pushed back over the proposals to amend the Melandri Law, believing there to be potential “negative effects” to Serie A if imposed.
Simonelli took particular concern over the new proposals for the distribution of revenue which would ultimately see the governing body pay out more money to lower leagues and other sports in Italy.
He said: “Above all, Lega Serie A would like to stress that it is strongly against any form of increase in solidarity payments that would take away further resources from the development and sustainability of Serie A, which already gives 10% of what it earns through from broadcast rights to support the lower leagues.
“Finally, Lega Serie A reiterates that it is very concerned about the negative effects of today’s rampant broadcasting piracy, which continues to have a very negative and direct effect on the value of the entire sports system, with over $348m (€300m) being lost each year. Piracy kills football.”
Serie A’s broadcast rights deal
Serie A is currently in a five-year, $5.23bn (€4.5bn) domestic broadcast rights deal with DAZN and Sky Sports, first signed in 2023.
DAZN broadcasts seven live Serie A games each week, whilst Sky Sports co-broadcasts three fixtures alongside DAZN.
As previously mentioned, Simonelli’s criticism stems mostly from the proposals for a new distribution system of Serie A broadcast revenues. The option to negotiate with multiple broadcasters is an advantage to the league as it can maximise profits and boost visibility globally which is possible with a global streaming service like DAZN.
While the league is benefitting from its most lucrative broadcast deal to date, Simonelli pointed out the rising concern amongst all top five European football leagues over the issue of piracy of its games.
This is a similar sentiment echoed by DAZN to the Professional Football League (LFP) over its concerns the governing body was not fulfilling its duty to tackle piracy of its broadcasts of Ligue 1 games. The broadcast partnership ultimately collapsed in late April 2025.
Government Response
Italy Minister of Sport Andrea Abodi was swift in his response to quell concerns from Simonelli and the rest of Lega Serie A.
He told La Gazzetta dello Sport the proposed amendments of the Melandri Law were still in its draft stage and there was a “glaring misunderstanding”.
“There is a glaring misunderstanding, there is a note from the league that did not understand what came out,” said Abodi.
“What came out yesterday, in an irregular manner, is a first technical draft, which was shared with the ministries involved, for their contribution, as part of a long process, which lasts a year, which is that of the delegation law.
“There is no blitz, a judgement was expressed on something that came out in an irregular and improper way, knowing or pretending not to know that it is a first technical draft of ours, with issues addressed in an innovative way. I am thinking of the possible hypothesis of a transfer even to a single operator, which is not foreseen today.”
