CBS Sports to continue as Serie A’s U.S. English-language broadcaster

Calcio has found a home in the United States — and the home is a familiar one.

CBS Sports and Lega Serie A announced a new two-year agreement on Friday morning to maintain the network’s role as the exclusive U.S. English-language rights holder of every Serie A, Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana match. Sources briefed on the deal told The Athletic there is potential to add more years. The fee is believed to be significantly less than the previous deal signed in 2021, which was around $60-70 million annually.

With an eye toward maintaining soccer inventory for its streaming product, Paramount+ will broadcast more than 400 club matches each season, including all 380 Serie A matches, at least 25 Coppa Italia matches and all Supercoppa Italiana matches.

CBS and Serie A said the new deal will be the widest distribution in the U.S of Serie A, with the most Italian league matches airing on broadcast television ever over the course of the deal, including on the CBS television network, as well as select matches on CBS Sports Network and CBS Sports Golazo Network.

The league has some American flavor, with U.S. star Christian Pulisic playing for AC Milan and U.S. national players Yunus Musah (AC Milan) and Timothy Weah (Juventus) also part of the league. (U.S. midfielder Weston McKennie played for Juventus last season but could be on the move in the transfer market.) Among the famed teams are Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan, AS Roma, Napoli, and Lazio.

Paramount+, like other streamers, has made a big bet on attracting subscribers through soccer. The Serie A renewal comes in the same week CBS Sports agreed to a four-year deal to become the U.S. broadcaster for the English Football League — the three divisions below the Premier League in England — and the Carabao Cup. ESPN previously aired those competitions.

CBS Sports’ soccer portfolio now features more than 1,500 live matches per year across its various platforms, including the UEFA Champions League and NWSL, UEFA Europa League, among many other leagues.

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(Photo: Jonathan Moscrop / Getty Images)