Football and TV, agreement between Tim and Dazn: deadline extended to March 2023

Codacons announced that the commitments undertaken by Tim and Dazn to remedy possible violations of competition contested by the two operators have been rejected. The Authority has stated that it will complete the procedure by March 31 next year, compared to the previously deadline of June 30, 2022

The Antitrust Authority rejected the commitments undertaken by Tim and Dazn to remedy possible violations of competition contested by the Authority against the two operators. This was announced by Codacons, which took part in the proceeding representing the rights of users potentially harmed by anti-competitive conduct. On 6 July 2021, the Antitrust had initiated an investigation against Tim and Dazn for a possible agreement to restrict competition relating to the agreement for the distribution, and technological support, for the TV rights of Serie A football in the three-year period 2021- 2024, recalls the Codacons. The Authority has declared that it will complete the procedure by March 31, 2023, with respect to the previous deadline of June 30, 2022. Dazn “takes note of the Authority’s provision extending the deadline for the conclusion of the procedure to March 31, 2023 and awaiting communication of the preliminary findings, as it has always done since the start of the procedure, will continue to act in order to ensure compliance with the agreement “. The group specified this to ANSA.

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the provision

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The Authority’s procedure – reconstructs Codacons – concerned “a hypothesis of an agreement restricting competition, in violation of Article 101 of the TFEU, in relation to the provisions of the agreement which commercially and technically limit DAZN in the offer of television services to payment, reducing the latter’s ability to offer discounts to users and to choose additional transmission methods that it deems most appropriate (in terms of transmission methods used, devices in which the DAZN app is available to the public, the possibility of users to take advantage of payment services via telephone account), as well as reducing the investment incentives of DAZN for interconnection with fixed and mobile telephone operators and for the adaptation of its content distribution network. agreement that hinder TIM’s competing telecommunications operators from undertaking commercial initiatives and which, through the wide exclusivity, they have selective characteristics, also affecting existing contractual relationships and preventing them from replicating the possibility of applying discounts or granting their users promotional vouchers for the offer of contents relating to Serie A matches “. Today – explains the consumer association – the Antitrust has issued a provision with which “Considering that the commitments presented by Telecom Italia SpA, DAZN Limited and DAZN Media Services Srl appear, both as a whole and individually considered, unfit to cancel the anti-competitive profiles identified in the resolution to initiate the investigation, as they are not likely to resolve the competitive concerns highlighted in the initiation provision, where they have not resulted in shared contractual changes, such as to eliminate the competitive problems “. The authority therefore resolved to “reject the commitments presented by Telecom Italia SpA, DAZN Limited and DAZN Media Services Srl”. “We now await the next steps of the Antitrust on the Dazn-Tim case, with the Authority also having to rule on the new complaint presented today by Codacons against the tariff increases for the vision of the 2022/2023 football championship ordered by Dazn”, concludes the association.

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