AGCM

According to the Authority, exclusive rights had been given to Tim with the obligation not to enter into partnerships with its competitors in the telecommunications sector. Following the interim sub-proceedings initiated by AGCM on 6 July 2021, the breach lasted little over a month: in August 2021, the companies stopped applying the clauses and executed a new contract on 4 August 2022

The Italian Competition Authority has completed the investigation into some clauses of the agreement between TIM and DAZN regarding the broadcast of the League A football championship matches during the three-year period 2021-2024. Based on the revenues received by the two companies from marketing the TV rights over the 2021-2022 season, the Authority fined Tim 760,776.82 euro and Dazn 7,240,250.84 euro. Following the tender launched by the Lega Calcio in 2021, Dazn holds the TV rights for the three-year period 2021-2024.

According to the Authority, the agreement, which gave exclusive rights to Tim and required TIM not to enter into partnerships with its competitors in the telecommunications sector, could have been detrimental to the competitive dynamics in the TLC sector in the market for connectivity services and retail sale of pay-TV services. Under the agreement, Tim marketed a bundled offer not replicable by its competitors, including TimVision and Dazn content and the connectivity service. Moreover, the offer was likely to deprive Tim’s competitors, which are active in the electronic communications market, of the possibility of associating content of particular value with their connectivity services, such as the rights relating to watching the matches of the Serie A championship for the three-year period 2021-2024, limiting their ability to exert competitive pressure on Tim itself. Moreover, certain clauses could limit Dazn’s commercial options in relation to the development of audiovisual content offers on other technological platforms.

The effects of the agreement, with particular reference to those relating to exclusive rights, lasted approximately one month, as they were halted by the Authority’s timely commencement of the investigation proceedings on 6 July 2021. The concurrent interim sub-proceedings, which took place short before the start of the first football season of the three-year period 2021-2024, prevented the effects of the agreement from continuing, since in August 2021 Tim and Dazn stopped applying the contested clauses. The original agreement was then replaced by a new contract, signed on 4 August 2022, which removed the exclusive rights altogether.

This allowed all operators concerned, including Sky, to enter into partnerships with Dazn and therefore to offer bundles of connectivity services and audiovisual content related to the Serie A football championship.

Rome, 13 July 2023