Serie A TIM: the 2018-2021 tender contested by Telecom and Competition authorities

AGCOM has requested that the Lega Serie A make changes to its draft call for tenders "for the TV rights to the 2018-2021 Serie A TIM, and other competitions organized by the League," said the Italian regulatory body for Telecom Activities on 26/01/2017. These changes, which concern neither the context nor the general principles of the tender, mainly refer to consumer protection, said AGCOM, which launched a procedure for defining the rules "of the collective selling of the Serie A TIM TV rights for the 2018-2021 period," on 06/12/2016.

The AGCM, the Italian Competition Authority also disputes the tender, including the composition of the lots and profile of companies allowed to compete, said this regulatory body on 26/01/2017, after a deliberation on 25/01/2017. The Competition Authority particularly questioned "the conditions of equity, transparency, and non-discrimination" in the tender that the Lega Serie A plans to launch in March 2017. These criticisms prevent the AGCM from approving the tender for 2018-2021.

As Italian law (Melandri Act) requires both the approval of the AGCM…