EU Competition Policy for the Sports Broadcasting Industry

In the last twenty years, there has been a tremendous increase in salaries and transfer fees of professional sportsmen. In addition, the values of TV broadcasting rights for sporting events have risen sharply and many sports teams have developed in fullfledged businesses or are even traded on the stock market. This means that sport has developed from pure entertainment to entertainment industry. These changes in the world of sports raise many new and complex issues for the application of competition law to sports. In the sports broadcasting industry, for instance, t he argument for the central marketing of TV rights is that it allows a governing body to redistribute income in a fair and balanced way, helping to maintain healthy competition between clubs. However, the argument against central marketing is that it prevents, restricts or distorts competition. This paper presents an overview of the aspects of competition law in the collective selling and buying of exclusive TV rights. Particular focus is on the role of the European Commission to protect sports from anti-competitive pressures threatening the social and cultural function of sport. Two cases relating to TV sports rights further clarify the dangers from the combination of joint selling with exclusive rights contracts. Finally, some reasonable alternatives to the collective selling and buying of TV rights are presented.