Serie A TV: Too Good to be True or the Coolest Thing Ever?

By: Martha | July 27th, 2007

Giuseppe over at the Palermo blog dug this up yesterday: A website at SerieA.tv claims it’ll stream every Serie A match this season, and requires us to pay less than $100 for the privilege of watching. (Us, in this case, means anyone living in the Americas or Japan, who has a Windows computer.) Um, wow. This sounds so amazing I’m immediately very suspicious — wouldn’t channels like FSC, Gol TV, and RAI International, which paid for the rights to broadcast Serie A in the US, object to something like this? And by “object,” I mean “threaten legal action”? I mean, about two games have ever been on MLStv because they’re not allowed to stream anything that’s on any national channel, no matter how small its subscriber base; it seems like there should be something similar here, at the very least.

I’ve read through seriea.tv’s terms of service, and must admit there’s nothing there that sets off huge warning bells. That said, though, they very clearly will not take any responsibility for streaming problems — those are the responsibility of their “providers,” whoever they are — and also make it clear that all purchases are final. While these might well be very standard conditions, the combination of those two things makes a cynic like me worry they’re going to take whatever money they can and then run once the season starts and no streams show up on the site.

Now, to their credit they’ve currently got some highlights and newsreels up, all of which work flawlessly (even on a Mac) and give us every reason to trust them. Additionally, their FAQ is very detailed and pretty frank, which also inspires confidence. Still, though, I’m really, really suspicious. What do you guys think? Worth the $90 just on the hopes it’s legit?

Edit: I asked about this at Big Soccer and got a quick, reassuring response from someone pretty convincingly involved with seriea.tv. It’s after the jump, if you’re interested.

We are happy that you are interested in SerieA.tv.

To answer your question, SerieA.tv can webcast all the matches because Fox Sports did not acquire the Internet rights for Serie A.

Seriea.tv has purchased those rights and can broadcast the games over all of the Americas, from Alaska to Cape Horn.

We cannot comment on the contract between MLS and the American broadcaster, but rest assured that it is not a legal necessity as you pointed out. It is just they way it is between MLS and its national broadcaster.

Seriea.tv is managed by Infront AMS, the media company of the Infront Sports and Media Group, one of the largest one of its kind in the world.

Infront AMS has successfully managed the live and on demand streaming of the 2007 Ice Hockey World Championship and the 2007 Euroleague Basketball Final Four over the past 6 months.

So yes, we assure you that it is 100% legit, as you were already thinking.

Our goal is to bring Serie A soccer into every American household. And if there are as many fans as passionate as you are, then we are certain that SerieA.tv is going to be a success.

Some Related Serie A Posts:

Category: Rumors & News, Serie A

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UL

How do you guys watch the Coppa matches through SerieA.tv? I can't locate it for the life of me, and yes I have a season's pass.
Martha

Glenn, others have been told that the situation with Napoli isn't necessarily permanent -- the TV rights for their home games are still being worked out and, if when they are seriea.tv gets them, the past home games will be archived on the site, so you'll be able to watch them on-demand. All is not yet lost!
Glenn

It doesn't look like they will show any Naples games unless they play in away games.
Staff@SerieA.tv

Dear Martha,

Here at SerieA.tv's HQs we are very happy to see that there's some buzz growing around this project.

Our goal is to provide live and on demand games to all the soccer fans in the world. At the moment we are operating in the Americas and in Japan, but in the near future we will webcast in many more countries.

And not only that.

You fans will have around the clock updates, shows and highlights 7 days a week.

Once the season kicks off, you will see that we will deliver just that.

SerieA.tv is produced and brought to you by one of the biggest and most important media companies in the world, Infront AMS, of the Infront Sports and Media Group.

And remember that you can contact us anytime at

staff@seriea.tv

Regards,

The Staff at SerieA.tv
Nelly

Yeah, they're right, FSC and RAI don't have "internet rights", they only have "TV rights".

I wish I could watch the games during the season; but I'll be busy with school.

And what's to stop us from getting the free streaming if we can't be assured of serieA.tv's quality?
Sam

It's a real pity that all the other leagues aren't doing exactly that.
Ady

This sounds heavenly. OMFG the games I actually want to watch! Time is so precious. I would eagerly pay $99 for this and, luddite that I am, I would be motivated to make the freakin thing work.
mele419

now if I only had $90 to spend... = [
Paolo

So wait, your telling me that Sunday Morning I can get up and watch any Serie A game I want? Awesome. Sunday's will be pure awesomeness for me. Serie A TV in the morning, and NFL Sunday Ticket in the afternoon. Woo Hoo!!

Up here we have RAI and TLN. TLN Shows the Saturday Games and one early game and the late game from Sunday. Between those 2 stations and FSC I shouldn't have a problem watching my beloved Inter! Although I will gladly pay the $99 (more for my Loonie) just so I don't have to listen to those fools on FSC. They make watching a game unbearable. When I was forced to watch their telecasts I had to listen to my iPod.
Joe

this is the best news i've heard since napoli got promoted. holy cow. $99? are you kidding me? i'm suspicious too and may wait until the first giornata kicks off to make sure things are ok, but wow. just wow. nice work!
Giuseppe

actually GOL tv lost the rights this year, so it's just RAI and FOX Soccer, since FSC is the only english one, that would only be about 1 or 2 english serie a games a week. I don't think it would have been to hard to set up the USA as a streaming country. I actually found this in the news section at the official AC Milan site too, so i'm pretty sure that helps legitimize it.
k

its also mentioned on the milan website, ya would think they wouldnt mention news thats not really true on it, would they?

(oh wait, they did also mention that suazo transferred to milan..) back to the cynics table for me!