Clubs from Italy’s Serie A, the top division of domestic football, have unanimously approved a new set of guidelines for the centralised selling of the next package of rights to the league and other competitions.
Terms of the fresh agreement have not been disclosed, but it has been forged following a meeting of Lega Serie A.
In January Italy’s antitrust authority, the AGCM, rejected the guidelines outlined by Lega Serie A for the centralised selling of the next package of rights, stating they were too “vague” in their definitions of the process.
The communications regulator in December launched a procedure that intended to define the rules for the sale of football rights across the three seasons spanning 2018-19 to 2020-21. Lega Serie A issued the initial guidelines on November 30 with the AGCM stating its intention to end its investigation on January 29.
AGCM’s probe involved all stakeholders in the Serie A rights process. After assessing the packages outlined in the guidelines the regulator said it had not found it possible to confirm its conformity with media regulations.
The rights tender will also include the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa cup competitions. AGCM stated its concern over information regarding indications over which entities are likely to compete for the rights. It said it found it difficult to guarantee that the process would comply with Article Six of the Melandri Decree, designed to ensure that participants engage in competitive procedures with “absolutely fair conditions, transparency and non-discrimination.”
The Reuters news agency, citing two sources familiar with the matter, said the tender is set to specify that a single party cannot hold more than 80 per cent of the rights on an exclusive basis. The new guidelines were delivered to the AGCM yesterday (Thursday), with the regulator now having 60 days to approve the process.
However, it is believed that approval will come within a shorter timeframe to allow the tender process to commence before the end of the 2016-17 season.