Serie A

Serie A is Italy's premier football/soccer league and one of the world's oldest, having been Founded in 1898. It adopted its current round-robin format back in the 1929/1930 season. Initially Serie A was overseen by the Direttorio Divisioni Superiori (DDS) and after by the Lega Calcio in 1943. The Lega Serie A assumed control by the 2010/2011 season and remains the governing body to this day.

There are 20 teams in Serie A, with each team playing each other twice for a total of 38 games per team each regular season. Like other leagues in Europe, Serie A operates on a relegation-promotion format. At the end of season, a set number (currently three) of the lowest-ranked teams are demoted to Serie B while a set number of the highest-ranked teams from Serie B earn a promotion to Serie A.

In terms of UEFA competitions, a total of seven Serie A sides are eligible. The top four teams at the end of the season qualify for the UEFA Champions League, while the fifth placed team qualifies for the UEFA Europa League, along with whoever wins the Coppa Italia. However, if the Coppa Italia winner also finishes in the top five, then a spot is given to the sixth-placed team in the UEFA Europa League group stages. Finally, the team who finishes seventh earns a spot in the UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying rounds.

Juventus are the most successful side in Serie A history. The Bianconeri have won more titles than any other side, with AC Milan and Inter in a distant second.

Over the years, Serie A has experienced ups and downs, with the 2006 Calciopoli scandal sending shockwaves through Italy and around the world. However, in recent times, it has gained some of its glitz and glamor that made it among the top leagues in the 1990s, with players like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Gianluigi Buffon, Francesco Totti, and Cristiano Ronaldo all having played in the Italian top flight. Recent additions to Serie A include USMNT stars Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, and Timothy Weah, son of Liberian icon George Weah.

Prior to 1980, broadcast rights to football matches in Italy were not sold to commercial broadcasters. Rather, broadcast rights were held by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) and individual clubs. The FIGC would then broadcast matches on its own channels while clubs would also do likewise or collaborate with local TV stations. However, in 1980, the FIGC began to sell broadcast rights to commercial broadcasters, with RAI becoming the first commercial broadcaster of Serie A that year. In the 21st century, other entities like Sky and Mediaset Premium also acquired TV broadcast and eventually live-streaming rights, before DAZN changed the landscape when, in 2021, it acquired live-streaming rights to a majority of Serie A games.