Spain’s antitrust authority, the Comisión Nacional de la Competencia, has launched formal disciplinary proceedings against the Mediapro agency for allegedly abusing a dominant position by restricting the ability of certain football clubs to enter into contracts to assign broadcasting rights to third-party operators.
The authority said that the proceedings relate to the acquisition of broadcast rights to the Spanish Liga, the top flight of football in the country, and the Copa del Rey (King’s Cup) competition.
“Mediapro held contracts with a number of football clubs for the 2011-12 season and allegedly penalised the clubs that considered signing or signed agreements with third-party operators to exclusively assign their broadcasting rights for the Spanish League and the King’s Cup (except the final) for subsequent seasons,” the authority said.
The investigation into the conduct arose from a complaint filed by Liga club Real Sociedad and, following a confidential probe, the authority said there was “prima facie evidence” that Mediapro had infringed article 2 of the Spanish Competition Act 15/2007.
Spanish newspaper AS said that the new case stems from Sociedad’s belief that it had rightfully signed a new rights deal covering two seasons, 2013-14 and 2014-15, with pay-television operator Prisa after Mediapro allegedly failed to pay the required amount for the 2011-12 season.
The latest development has emerged after Real Madrid was last week added to a separate ongoing dispute between Mediapro and the authority over the agency’s broadcast rights agreements with certain football clubs. The CNC in May began legal proceedings against Mediapro and three clubs regarding their broadcast deals. The antitrust authority began an investigation into deals between the agency and FC Barcelona, Sevilla and Racing Santander, concerning “non-compliance” with a CNC council resolution drafted in April 2010.
The resolution outlined that the acquisition of broadcast rights to clubs’ league and cup games, with the exception of the Copa del Rey final, for more than three seasons infringed Spanish and European competition regulations by failing to ensure the rights were “released onto the market with the regularity necessary to ensure effective competition.”
The authority said that the four parties had failed to comply with the regulation and last week extended its claim to include Real Madrid, based on a broadcast deal the club signed with Mediapro in November 2010.