Sky’s injunction came in the wake of the attempts by both leagues to find digital-terrestrial broadcasters to step in and continue showing matches of the teams after previous broadcaster Dahlia went into liquidation. The rights which Dahlia had acquired for the remainder of the current season and next season returned to the two leagues after Dahlia’s closure and the league immediately retendered them.
Mediaset, which operates Mediaset Premium, Sky’s main pay-television rival, expressed interest in the rights to both divisions, as did fledgling television service Europa 7. A little-known intermediary, ImOve, also expressed interest in the Serie A rights. The league was thought to have agreed a deal in principle with Mediaset for Serie B before Sky sought the injunction.
Sky is understood to have asked the court to block the rights sales in an urgent procedure which would have meant not taking into account the league’s arguments. The judge, Claudio Marangoni, refused.