Guardia di Finanza in the offices of Sky, Mediaset and Lega Calcio. Behind the inspections there would be the investigative hypothesis being examined by the Antitrust and by the Fiamme Gialle themselves of a anti-competition agreement between Alfa TV and Rupert Murdoch's TV rights for Serie A in the three-year period 2015-2018.
In particular, the inspections would be underway in the offices of the National Professional League, Infront Italy, Sky Italia, Rti, Mediaset and Mediaset Premium. The checks that the financiers are carrying out in these hours will serve to provide further information on the hypothesis of a restrictive agreement on competition signed between Sky and Mediaset in relation to the rights assigned last summer.
During the World Cup in Brazil, in fact, the fight between Mediaset and Sky for the three-year television rights for the broadcasting of Serie A on satellite and digital terrestrial. Initially, with open envelopes, Sky was assigned the exclusive broadcasting of the 8 big league players (Rome excluded) for both digital and satellite, while Mediaset was assigned the package for the remaining 12 teams, including Rome. After days of clashes and very heated tones, the two networks managed to find an agreement for the football broadcast on tv exchanging the acquired rights to the envelopes following the Authority's approval.
And just today, almost a year later, inspections are arriving at the Rome and Milan offices of the special Market Protection unit, in agreement with the Competition Authority. It is still difficult to think what the effects of a possible cancellation of the could be Sky-Mediaset agreements on Serie A rights but a few months before the start of the new Serie A season, the possibility of a second auction for the assignment of three-year football rights on TV.
