It had been slightly expected if you were watching the rumour mill, but on Monday it was finally confirmed that the Lega Serie A had now formally signed a new sponsorship deal with Enilive to rename the Italian top flight division.
From the 2024/25 season, the 25 year partnership with telephone company TIM comes to an end, and their sole naming rights domination of the Italian game ceases. The league will now be known as the Serie A Enileve for at least the next three years, and after much negotiation, the new deal does see a slight increase in the value of the sponsorship.
The deal is reportedly worth 22 million Euros per year, for the next three years, and Enilive reportedly have an option for the 2027/28 and 2028/29 campaigns should they wish – that may or not, be an option solely for them to choose, it is unknown whether Lega Serie A would have a potential veto if there were better offers on the table.
According to outlet Calcio e Finanza, the 22 million Euro deal is a slight increase on the proposal from TIM, as they offered to uplift the previous deal from 15 million Euros to 19 million Euros for the new package.
In the current environment where football is under green and sustainability complaints, many would say partnering with Enilive is a sensible move by the league. The new sponsor falls under the umbrella of energy company Eni, who focus on sustainable energy resources, which includes electric vehicle charging points and service stations, as well as the refining of bio-fuels and organising car sharing apps – so with climate change taking centre stage in the news cycles, again this is a good pivot from a public relations point of view (not least the increased revenue).
Train company Frecciarossa have also renewed their agreement to continue to sponsor the Coppa Italia, and that particular deal with now run for a further three years. Calcio e Finanza again report that the new deal is now worth 5.5 million Euros per season on the new deal. This represents an additional uplift of 1 million Euros based on the previous three year agreement.
Whether the new deal with Enilive in particular sees additional league led driven initiatives when it comes to sustainability is open for debate right now, but it is quite clear the Italian game is looking to increase its resources.
