FOOTBALL fans in the UK will be able to watch both Serie A and the Bundesliga live on TV next season.
After Sky Sports won the rights to show the German top division last week, BT Sport have now announced that they will be showing the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic live on air in the UK and Ireland next season.
The channel has won exclusive rights to show Serie A fixtures in the UK for the next three years, with the deal finishing at the end of the 2023/24 season.
Over 200 live games will be show on BT Sport every season, with at least five games to be shown shown live on each of the 38 match days, starting on August 21 as champions Inter Milan take on Genoa.
Speaking on the announcement BT Sport’s Sports Rights Director Rachael Knight said: “We want to provide our customers with the best sport from across the world and the addition of Serie A means viewers will get to follow some of the biggest stars, managers and clubs in world football.
“European football has always been an important part of our line-up, with Serie A now joining our exclusive coverage of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League, alongside France’s Ligue 1.”
BETTING SPECIAL – GET MO SALAH TO SCORE ONE OR MORE GOALS IN AUGUST AT 20/1
Inter Milan won their first Serie A title in eleven years last season, ending Juventus’ run of nine titles in a row prior to that, with the Old Lady only scraping into the top four on the last day of the season.
And after Italy’s win at Euro 2020, a selection of Italy’s biggest stars will be on show on BT Sport, with the likes of Federico Chiesa (Juventus), Nico Barella (Inter), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli) and Ciro Immobile (Lazio) set to be on UK and Ireland screens next season as well defensive stalwarts Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci (both Juventus).
Overseas talents such as superstar Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (AC Milan), Paulo Dybala (Juventus) and Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli) will also take centre stage live on BT Sport.
Former Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho will be on show after taking over at Roma at the start of the season and he is sure to play his part in what should be a fascinating title race.
The news follows last week’s announcement that Sky Sports would exclusively broadcast all Bundesliga games until the end of the 2024/25 season.
Games from the German top flight have been shown by BT Sport in recent seasons, but now Sky Sports have won the honours to do so and will even show some games for FREE on YouTube.
The first game of the 2021-22 season will see Bayern Munich’s trip to Borussia Monchengladbach at 7.30pm on Friday August 13 – the same day as the Premier League curtain-raiser between Arsenal and Brentford.
Each weekend, the ‘premium’ Bundesliga match will be shown live on Sky Sports at 5.30pm meaning football fans in the UK and Ireland will have plenty of European football on offer to them over the course of the next twelve months.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
