Italy’s antitrust authority, the AGCM, has opted to suspend action on a complaint brought forward by Italian broadcaster Mediaset to enable the tender process for the domestic rights to Serie A can proceed as planned, while French media company Vivendi has expressed interest in the tender.
Mediaset this month filed a complaint to the AGCM over the tender, which is set to run for three seasons, from 2018-19 to 2020-21. Lega Serie A, the governing body of the top division of Italian football, announced the launch of the tender at the end of last month, with a deadline of June 10 for bids to be submitted.
However, Mediaset told the AGCM that the sales process, which is being handled by the Lega’s rights adviser, the Infront Sports & Media agency, “favours” pay-television broadcaster Sky and represents a “monopoly risk.”
Mediaset complained that, with a “no single buyer” rule in place, Package B was not attractive enough, while Package D features 324 matches – significantly more games than the other packages.
Mediaset, which called for the process to be suspended, also criticised the reduced number of packages and the minimum rights fees. However, the Calcio e Finanza website said the AGCM has elected to suspend an investigation into Mediaset’s complaint, while reserving the right to intervene after the tender has concluded, if it deems such action to be appropriate.
Meanwhile, Vivendi chief executive Arnaud de Puyfontaine has signalled the company’s interest in participating in the tender process. De Puyfontaine has said Vivendi intends to establish an Italian unit by the end of the month, which will be based in Milan.
Questioned over the Serie A tender, De Puyfontaine said, according to the il Giornale.it website: “It’s an area of interest. We will think about this and decide soon.”
Vivendi last month secured European Union antitrust approval for its plan to gain control of Telecom Italia after the European Commission said it had agreed to sell the Italian telecommunications company’s majority stake in broadcasting services group Persidera.
Vivendi became the main shareholder in Telecom Italia in June 2015 and strengthened its hold earlier this month by appointing two-thirds of its board.
Telecom Italia has a presence in the Italian sports-media market including mobile/internet rights to Serie A and digital clips rights to the Coppa Italia.