GolTV, the all soccer network, announced Monday that it has acquired the exclusive U.S. and Canada broadcast rights to the 2010 World Cup qualifying matches of the Italian National Team. Reigning World Cup Champion Italy's home matches against Montenegro, Georgia, Ireland, Bulgaria and Cyprus will be broadcast only on GolTV to North American cable, satellite and telco subscribers. GolTV will also exclusively televise six of Italy's friendly matches, including Italy vs. Belgium on May 30.

"We decided to offer the broadcasting rights to Italy's qualifiers to GolTV because of the constant quality of GolTV's soccer program offerings. It has not taken us long to turn to GolTV, as the Italian Qualifiers are worth more than just their commercial value to us," said Carlo Nardello, CEO of RAI Trade, which handles international distribution of all RAI products, including the coverage of the Italian National Team.

In 2006 Italy was crowned the FIFA World Cup champion in Germany, adding to the country's three other World Cup titles from 1934, 1938 and 1982. GolTV viewers will share in the thrills of the qualifiers as 3rd-ranked Italy quests for yet another World Cup title.

"By bringing soccer fans the high-quality action of Italy's qualifying matches, we reassert our relentless commitment to providing North American viewers the opportunity to see the best soccer matches played throughout the world right in their homes," said Enzo Francescoli, founder and CEO of GolTV.

Several of the Italian National Team members are already regular stars on GolTV due to the network's exclusive rights to many of Europe's soccer leagues, including Fabio Cannavaro from Real Madrid, Luca Toni from Bayern Munich, and Gennaro Gattuso from AC Milan. In 2008, GolTV will also bring viewers exclusive coverage of several other top international soccer championships including Copa Del Rey, Coppa Italia (Italian Cup), the World Cup qualifying games of the German National Team and much more.

(Source: Sportsbusinessnews.com)