Portugal's Competition Authority sets limit of 3 year maximum duration of TV rights contracts

AdC (Autoridade da Concorrência), the Portuguese competition authority, has set a maximum limit of three years on length of contracts for the domestic audiovisual rights, other media, and display advertising in stadiums, signed individually by the professional clubs of the Liga NOS (Portuguese first division) and the Segunda Liga (second division) from 2015-16, on 03/06/2015.

AdC had opened an investigation into contracts between Portuguese clubs and the Global Media Group (formerly Controlinveste, owner of pay-TV channel Sport TV). The investigation concluded that these contracts were a major risk of "foreclosure of the market" (impossibility for a new player to enter it) due to the excessively long duration of the exclusive agreements, the suspension mechanism in the contracts, and that the right of first refusal is granted to Global Media Group.

Global Media Group has made several proposals to the AdC for new contracts: the limitation of exclusive contracts with a duration of three years, and the abandonment of the clauses of first refusal and suspension of contracts. These…