The next two seasons of European volleyball’s top-tier CEV Champions League (both the men’s and women’s editions) will be shown in Italy by a combination of DAZN and Sky Italia.
Global streaming platform DAZN and pay-TV heavyweight Sky Italia have both struck deals with Infront, the heavyweight sports marketing agency and CEV (European Volleyball Confederation) rights-holder, covering the 2024-25 and 2025-26 Champions League campaigns.
Sky Italia will cover three games from each round of the two competitions, equating to over 50 fixtures in total, while DAZN (which was the sole Italian broadcaster for those two competitions last season) has also kept hold of a package of rights.
DAZN will, through this deal, show all matches from those competitions featuring Italian sides, as well as select other fixtures.
In total, six Italian sides - three men’s and three women’s - will take part in the 2024-25 Champions League.
These deals have been struck following the Italian women’s national team securing a gold medal in volleyball at the Paris 2024 Olympics, which took place in late July and early August.
DAZN Italy adds the CEV Champions League to a volleyball portfolio that includes domestic Serie A league action, as well as the Volleyball Nations League and Club World Cup.
The women’s 2024-25 Champions League gets underway on November 5, with the men’s edition then beginning on November 12.
Stefano Azzi, DAZN Italy chief executive, said: “The feedback we are getting from fans on the platform is extremely positive and confirms that volleyball, both Italian and international, is growing rapidly.”
For the 2021-22 and 2022-23 CEV Champions League seasons, Italian coverage was provided by Discovery+ and Eurosport.
The Infront-CEV media rights tie-up, unveiled in late 2019, runs until the end of the 2031-32 season and has been reported as worth $117 million overall.
