MILAN, Italy (Reuters) – Comcast pay TV broadcaster Sky is close to securing the bulk of the rights to broadcast Champions League games in Italy for the next three seasons, with Amazon’s Prime Video retaining exclusive rights for Wednesday’s best picks, three industry sources said on Saturday. Last month, European soccer body UEFA invited broadcasters to submit bids for the rights to screen Europe’s top soccer competition in Italy.
It was seen targeting some 300 million euros ($321 million) per year from the auction. Sky, owned by U.S. firm Comcast, is nearing a deal to screen most Champions League matches on an exclusive basis, with an offer in the region of 180-190 million euros, one source said. Amazon’s Prime Video is close to retaining exclusive rights to screen Wednesday’s first picks, the sources said. One said the streaming service had offered 100-110 million euros per year for the matches. Sky and Amazon declined to comment. UEFA was not immediately available for comment.
($1 = 0.9351 euros)
(Reporting by Elvira Pollina; editing by Gianluca Semeraro and Jason Neely)
