A418 - FOOTBALL TV RIGHTS: LEGA CALCIO TO BE INVESTIGATED OVER POSSIBLE ABUSE OF A DOMINANT POSITION
PRESS RELEASE
TV RIGHTS FOR FOOTBALL: ANTITRUST AUTHORITY TO INVESTIGATE LEGA CALCIO OVER POSSIBLE ABUSE OF ITS DOMINANT POSITION
The ‘packets’ prepared for the Serie A championships for the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 seasons do not seem to guarantee fair competition and may hinder the growth of new operators, to the detriment of consumers
The Italian Competition Authority, at its meeting on 22 July 2009, decided to open an investigation into whether Lega Calcio [the Italian Football League], in preparing the 'packets' of Serie A TV rights for the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 seasons, abused its dominant position in the centralized marketing of those rights.
In the Authority's view, Lega Calcio's chosen method for making up the ‘packets’ could be in conflict with competition principles: the ‘packets’, as they stand, would seem to be 'custom-made' for the main pay-TV operators, thus not ensuring a truly competitive procedure and hindering the entry and growth of other businesses.
More specifically, Lega Calcio seems to have preferred to limit competition among the pay-TV operators over the rights in order to ensure its own expected revenues and avoid the uncertainty linked to the results of open tendering. The lower level of competition among pay-TV operators which may result from this may of course negatively affect consumers, who may find themselves paying higher prices for a product offering inferior levels of variety and quality.
The potential for distortion of competition arising from the method used for creating the 'packets' had already been noted by the Authority on 1 July 2009 at the time of its approval of the relevant guidelines: the League was asked to define several packets within each platform, precisely in order to encourage the maximum possible participation in the competitive procedures and the entry of new operators, as well as the development of intra-platform competition.
In the Antitrust Authority's view, the packets defined by Lega Calcio also do not ensure absolutely fair, transparent and non-discriminatory conditions for those taking part in the competitive procedures, nor do they allow for participation by multiple operators within the different platforms as is stipulated in current regulations.
Rome, 24 July 2009