A regional administrative court in Lazio yesterday overturned a January ruling by the country’s antitrust authority, l’Autoritá Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato, which had cleared the league to sell the live digital satellite rights for Serie A exclusively to Sky. Commitments by the league to make a new package of satellite highlights rights available persuaded the antitrust authority to clear the deal. The authority had begun investigating the deals following a complaint by Conto TV and consumer groups about Sky’s exclusivity.
Conto last year temporarily blocked Sky’s deal through a challenge in a Milan civil court, but the antitrust authority ruling convinced the court to allow the deals to stand. Sky paid €1.149 billion for the rights for Serie A in a two-season deal, from 2010-2011 to 2011-2012.