Serie A Femminile to begin without television deal secured: First five matchdays without a broadcaster
The 2023/24 Serie A Femminile season will begin in the dark. Coming off the back of the biggest-ever Women’s World Cup and for what is just the second-ever season of full professionalism in the top flight of Italian women’s football, the first five matchdays of the new campaign will not be available to watch.
News emerged following a press release on the evening of Friday, September 1, 2023, that the Divisione Serie A Femminile Professionistica - the body responsible for organising women’s competitions on behalf of the Italian Football Federation (the FIGC) - has extended the deadline for interested parties to make a concrete offer for the rights to show Serie A Femminile.
This setback concerns the paid TV rights, with free-to-air packages having already been assigned for one game per matchday.
Serie A Femminile television rights
As reported by LFootball, the deadline for offers had originally been set for August 31, ahead of the 2023/24 season starting on September 16 and 17. That deadline has now been extended long beyond the beginning of the season and until October 31, 2023.
As a result, the first five matchdays of the new Serie A Femminile season will go without television audiences.
This news comes at a time of unprecedentedly high interest in women’s football after a phenomenal 2023 Women’s World Cup this summer, which saw countless records broken and engagement with the women’s game soar. Italy crashed out at the group stage for the second consecutive major tournament.
Free-to-air Serie A Femminile matches
Back on August 10, 2023, it was announced that every matchday of Serie A Femminile would have one free-to-air game domestically in Italy, as was the case last season as well.
While those games were previously on La7, the package this coming season has gone to RAI, with the international rights for the ‘free-to-air package’ going to S&T Group.