Italian soccer's top-tier Serie A has appointed Lars Heidenreich as a media rights consultant across the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, as it continues to grow its global visibility.
Formerly of heavyweight sports marketing agency Sportfive, and for the last 11 years of Mediapro, Heidenreich and the consulting firm behind him - FSA Consult - will work alongside the 20-team league on increasing and enhancing the Serie A broadcast rights in APAC.
The league has said that APAC "represents a strategic region for the growth of Italian soccer, with a passionate fanbase, expanding commercial opportunities, and growing engagement."
Heidenreich - who has extensive experience across APAC from his previous roles - will support the development of media rights deals, institutional relations, and other media initiatives.
The Infront agency is currently the media rights distribution partner of Serie A across a range of APAC and Pacific Islands territories, in a deal running across the 2024-27 cycle.
For the previous cycle, Infront had been the Serie A partner worldwide, but the league decided to change that approach for this three-season stretch.
Across Central Asia, meanwhile, Setanta is the league's partner this season, while in the Indian subcontinent, the rights are held by Dubai-based transmedia company GXR, which streams games on a free-to-air basis.
Heidenreich spent almost six years in Melbourne, Australia, in the early 2000s, as the managing director of International Sports Media, before serving as the MD of Sportfive Asia for 18 months directly after that.
He was then appointed as executive vice president of Sportfive International, a role in which he stayed for another 18 months.
Then, in mid-2014, he was appointed as MD of Mediapro Asia, where he stayed until February of this year.
Serie A has said that Heidenreich "brings more than two decades of international experience across the sports media, broadcasting, and commercial rights industries, with senior leadership roles spanning Europe and Asia Pacific."
