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ANSA, Friday, July 21, 2006 3:37 PM
In the wake of the historic match-fixing scandal that has changed the face of Serie A for the next two seasons, Italy's cabinet approved much-needed reform bill overhauling the way soccer broadcasting
rights are negotiated. The end result will be that smaller clubs get a fairer share of the spoils. Italian soccer is to adopt a similar system to the one used in England, France and Germany, where the
Italian soccer league will hand out half of the television revenues equally between all clubs in the top flight. The other 50 percent will be split based on the number of subscribers the teams attract
to the various TV platforms. Currently, each club negotiates the transmission of their home games for itself. For years, smaller clubs have said this system ensures that massive clubs like Inter, AC
Milan and Juventus land the biggest deals. They add that it becomes a turn-off for fans too as the big clubs can be sure of earning the most money and buying the best players year after year. It will
likely take another six months for the bill to pass through parliament and become law; the system will likely go into effect for the 2007-08 season.
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