2018-2021 Serie A TV rights: Mediapro appeals the decision of the Court of Milan on their tender

The Chinese-Spanish audiovisual group Mediapro is appealing, on 10/05/2018, the decision of the Court of Milan of 07/05/2018 which asked Mediapro, following the appeal of the pay-TV group Sky Italia on 16/04/2018, to reformulate the tender for the domestic audiovisual rights to the Serie A over the 2018-2021 period.

According to the decision of the Court of Milan of 07/05/2018, the tender of Mediapro "violates the principles of the 'antitrust' law (to guarantee competition in the market)" and would limit the freedom of choice in the formulation of proposals for different content and services.

Mediapro has been awarded, by the Lega Serie A, the domestic audiovisual rights to the Serie A for the 2018-2021 period as an independent intermediary, for an amount of €1.05bn, on 05/02/2018. Mediapro has put together a (nominally, sub-license) tender comprising seven lots (one for satellite, two for DTT, two for OTT, and two for IPTV), on 16/04/2018. None of the lots offered includes a floor price, and none offers exclusive broadcasting.

• Mediapro was to provide a deposit against the…