As a consequence, the 2002/3 season will commence this Saturday – two weeks later than first intended.
The problems, which had centred on the 8 Serie A clubs that did not have a contract with either of the country’s two PayTV platforms, Stream or TELE+, came to an end when each of the top six Serie A clubs agreed to contribute U$6 million to the smaller clubs to minimise the shortfall of the monies already offered by the two platforms but which had previously been rejected.
Previously, the 8 clubs (Atalanta, Brescia, Chievo, Como, Empoli, Modena, Perugia and Piacenza) - trading as Plus Media Trading - had demanded that each receive U$10 million for the 2002/3 season.
By way of response, the two platforms - at a time that Stream is negotiating an amicable takeover of TELE+ - offered little more than half, with the consequence that the start to the new season was deferred by two weeks, albeit no matches were ever scheduled for the second week in lieu of Italy playing an international match.
The remaining ten Serie A clubs, all with contracts, are shared between Stream (Bologna, Lazio, Parma, Roma and Udinese) and TELE+ (Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Regina and Torino).
By dint of the settlement, the new season will commence on Saturday 14th September with four matches; Inter Milan/Torino, Bologna/AS Roma, Como/Empoli and Modena/AC Milan.
A compromise by the top six clubs in Italy means that a further delay to the new season has been averted.
