Amazon mulls bid for domestic TV rights to Italy's Serie A - source

(Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc is considering making a bid for the domestic broadcasting rights for Italy's top-flight soccer league, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, as it aims to boost Prime Video's content offerings in Italy.

Representatives of Amazon and soccer league Serie A held talks over the past weeks regarding a potential bid, the source said, adding that Amazon is interested in streaming the league's matches on its Prime Video streaming platform.

Globally, Amazon has bet big on sports as a way to bolster its movie and originals catalogue and already holds exclusive rights to screen top European Champions League soccer matches in Italy on Prime Video for the 2021-2024 seasons. (https://reut.rs/2LIN6rM)

Serie A has aimed to raise at least 1.15 billion euros ($1.40 billion) per season over the next three years from the sale of pay-TV rights for its home market, Reuters reported in December. The deadline to present the bids is Jan. 26.

Amazon did not respond to a Reuters request for comment, while Serie A declined to comment.

Bloomberg News reported the news earlier in the day. (https://bloom.bg/3nKZ9lv)

($1 = 0.8226 euros)

(Reporting by Elvira Pollina in Milan and Ayanti Bera in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)