The 2021/22 Serie A season represented an epochal turning point, with the TV rights for the transmission of all the matches that passed into the hands of DAZN and TIM after years of Sky’s domination, simultaneously marking the transition (which did not revealed exactly painless) from satellite to streaming football.
For Sky obviously it was a hard blow to be absorbed, since the rich football offer was a cornerstone of the proposal on the Italian market. In fact, the company found itself faced with the difficult blow of limiting the inevitable haemorrhage of subscriptions: and in doing so, it has now established the Competition and Market Authority, has disseminated misleading information on the award of football rights relating to the matches of the Serie A football championship.
THE ANTITRUST GIVES TIM REASON
The Authority examined the report made last summer by TIM: for the telecommunications giant, Sky Italia in the spring of 2021 would have represented a situation of uncertainty regarding the award of TV rights, suggesting to its subscribers the possibility of being able to continue to enjoy the Serie A matches as in previous seasons, although in March DAZN had already won the auction.
And now the Antitrust has just validated this reconstruction, closing an investigation that commits one to Sky Italia 1 million euro fine for managing the communication of the contents included in your Football Package for the 2021/22 season in a misleading wayin an attempt to guide customers to maintain the existing subscription with the prospect of being able to benefit from the promotions provided for the summer months and the possibility of being able to withdraw later without having to pay any penalty.
Only later, with a campaign that ended on 1 July 2021, Sky Italia then corrected the pitch in individual communications addressed to all subscribers, providing suitable, timely and effective information on the actual nature of its football offer.
THE REPLICA OF SKY
The story, however, does not seem to have reached the last act. In fact, Sky Italia promptly released a note explaining its position and affirming that it considers the decision taken by the Authority to be “unfounded”and therefore intends to assert their reasons in the competent offices:
Sky takes note of today’s decision of the Antitrust Authority, but considers it unfounded and is preparing to assert its reasons in the competent fora.
In fact, Sky promptly provided its subscribers with all the information that gradually became available in the context of objective uncertainty that characterized the assignment of the rights to the Serie A football championship for the three-year period 2021-2024.
Last June, moreover, Sky informed its subscribers, also through individual communications, of the content and price of the Sky Calcio package, offering them the opportunity to withdraw from both the Sky Calcio package and the entire subscription for free.
