Notice published pursuant to Article 19(3) of Council Regulation No 17 concerning case COMP/C.2/37.398 — Joint selling of the media rights of the UEFA Champions League on an exclusive basis (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2002-08-17
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Internet, broadcasting, commercial law, exclusive distribution agreement, mass media, sporting event, sports body

17.8.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 196/3

to Article 19(3) of Council Regulation No 17 concerning case
Notice published pursuant
COMP/C.2/37.398 — Joint selling of the media rights of the UEFA Champions League on an
exclusive basis

(2002/C 196/03)

(Text with EEA relevance)

1. THE NOTIFICATION

1. On 1 February 1999 the ‘Union des Associations Euro-
péennes de Football’
(UEFA) applied for a negative
clearance under Article 81(1) of the EC Treaty or, failing
this, an exemption under Article 81(3) of the EC Treaty in
respect of its arrangements for the joint selling of the
commercial rights of the UEFA Champions League (1).

Fédération Internationale de

2. UEFA is a society registered in the register of companies
under the terms of the Swiss Civil Code. Its headquarters is
located in Switzerland. As the European confederation
Football
recognised by
Association (FIFA), UEFA is
the governing body for
European football. UEFA membership is open to all
national football associations in the European Continent.
UEFA is
football
associations. Currently, UEFA's membership comprises 52
national
these member
associations. 21 of
associations are located in the EEA (2). UEFA organises a
number of football tournaments in addition to the UEFA
Champions League.

an association of national

football

thus

excludes

3. The notified arrangement provides that UEFA is granted
the exclusive right to sell the commercial rights of the
UEFA Champions League. This
from
taking independent commercial actions
regarding the
exploitation of these rights. Consequently, UEFA negotiates
and concludes contracts pertaining to the exploitation of
the commercial rights of the UEFA Champions League.
UEFA's commercial policy is to sell the TV rights in a
single package on an exclusive basis to a single broadcaster
per Member State.

clubs

no

These

added

observations

4. Several third parties submitted observations on the notified
new
arrangements.
arguments in favour of the notified arrangement to those
submitted by UEFA in its notification. These relate
essentially to solidarity, the social and economic aspects
of sport, and the balance in sport competition between
third
rich and poor clubs and associations. Several
parties argued against joint selling. They essentially argue
that joint selling leads to higher prices, and less football on
TV. They also argue that UEFA's solidarity measures are
inefficient, insufficient and conducted in a non-transparent
way.

(1) TV broadcasting rights, sponsorship, suppliership, licensing and IPR.
(2) In the UK there are four UEFA member associations: England,

Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

the

selling of

commercial

the TV broadcasting rights

5. On 19 July 2001, the Commission issued a statement of
objections finding that the notified arrangement for the
joint
restrict
competition pursuant to Article 81(1) of the EC Treaty
and that
they were not eligible for exemption under
Article 81(3). Even though UEFA may be regarded as a
co-owner of
the UEFA
Champions League, joint selling still restricts competition
on the horizontal
level by preventing clubs from taking
independent commercial action in respect of their rights.
UEFA's joint selling arrangement also restricts competition
on the vertical level, because UEFA's commercial policy is
to grant an exclusive license to a single broadcaster in each
the UEFA
Member State covering all TV rights of
Champions
two
combination of
restrictions reinforces their restrictive effect.

League. The

rights of

the

6. The arrangements restrict competition in the upstream
market for the acquisition of TV rights of football. This
market is closely linked with the downstream television
for
free-TV broadcasters
markets where
for
and
advertisers
pay-TV broadcasters
subscribers:
the down-
the restrictions therefore affect
stream markets as well. Football is in most countries the
driving force not only for the development of pay-TV
services but it is also an essential programme item for
free TV broadcasters.

compete
compete

7. The statement of objections found that any possible effi-
ciencies and benefits that joint selling could provide in the
broadcasting market are negated by the commercial policy
pursued by UEFA. This is because all TV rights of the
UEFA Champions League are sold to a single broadcaster
in each territory for several years in a row on an exclusive
basis. Consequently, only a single large broadcaster in each
territory is able to acquire the TV rights of the UEFA
Champions
objections
concluded that the combination of these restrictions has
a negative effect on the structure of the downstream TV
broadcasting markets since football is in most countries a
driving force for the development of the TV markets. The
restrictions therefore enhance media concentration and
hamper competition between broadcasters. If one broad-
caster holds all relevant football TV rights in a Member
State,
for competing
broadcasters to establish themselves in that market due
to the inability to acquire interesting content.

it will become extremely difficult

statement

League.

The

of

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Official Journal of the European Communities

17.8.2002

8. On 16 November 2001, UEFA submitted its formal reply
to the statement of objections and on 8 January 2002 it
presented a preliminary outline of
a possible new
commercial policy. Subsequently, on 12 March 2002
UEFA presented a rights segmentation table for the exploi-
tation of not only the TV rights but also all the media
rights of the UEFA Champions League,
including radio,
television,
Internet, UMTS and physical media rights
(such as DVD, VHS, CD Rom, etc.). Based on the principles
in this proposal, on 13 May 2002 UEFA notified a new
commercial policy designed to remedy the infringements
that were the subject of the statement of objections. The
the competition
Commission's preliminary view is that
concerns
statement of
objections will be remedied by UEFA's new commercial
policy.

expressed in the

that were

subject to picks one to four made by the broadcasters
having bought the main live packages. While these rights
may not be bundled together with the rights of other clubs
thus creating an alternative UEFA Champions League
football clubs may under certain
programming offer,
circumstances combine their TV rights with a view to
make a regional offering. Any purchaser of these rights
from UEFA (or the clubs, as the case may be) will be
obliged to show the matches live.

14. UEFA will

in addition have the exclusive right to sell a
the UEFA
highlight package covering all matches of
Champions League available as of 22.45 on each match
night.

2. THE NOTIFIED AGREEMENT

9. The notified new revised UEFA Champions League joint
selling arrangement may be summarised in the following
manner (1):

2.1. Television broadcasting rights

10. UEFA will award the TV rights of the UEFA Champions
League following a public invitation to broadcasters to bid.
The TV rights contracts shall be concluded for a period
not exceeding three UEFA Champions League seasons.

15. As of Thursday midnight (i.e. one day after the last match
of the match week), both UEFA and the football clubs can
exploit the deferred TV rights. UEFA exploitation shall be
related to action from the whole UEFA Champions League;
the individual
football clubs exploitation shall be in
relation to matches in which they participate, it must be
‘club branded’ and must not be bundled with rights of
other clubs to create a competing UEFA Champions
League programming offer, save once again that football
clubs may under certain circumstances combine their TV
rights with a view to make a regional offering.

11. UEFA will offer its TV rights in several smaller packages
(the precise format of which may vary depending on the
structure of the TV market in the particular Member State
in which the rights are being offered).

16. UEFA will have the exclusive right to sell live TV rights
outside the EEA area. Deferred rights available to clubs are
subject to the same rules both inside and outside the EEA
area.

two matches per match night

12. Subject to the above, UEFA will have the exclusive right to
sell two main live rights packages (free or pay-TV) each
comprising
(UEFA
Champions League matches are currently played Tuesday
and Wednesdays). The first package will usually include
first and third pick per match day and the second
package second and fourth pick. These two packages
would cover 61 matches out of a total of 157.

13. UEFA will

likewise have the exclusive right to sell the
remaining matches for live pay-TV/pay-per-view exploi-
if UEFA has not managed to sell the
tation. However,
the First
rights within one week after
Group stage of
lose its
exclusive right to sell these TV rights. Thereafter, the indi-
vidual home clubs participating in a given match will also
be able to sell
live
pay-TV/pay-per-view exploitation. The right of UEFA and
the individual football clubs to sell these matches will be

the draw for
the competition, UEFA will

their matches

the rights of

for

(1) The notified documents explaining UEFA's new commercial policy

is displayed on UEFA's official web http://www.UEFA.com

2.2. Internet

17. Both UEFA (in respect of all matches) and the clubs (in
respect of matches in which they participate) will have a
right
to provide video content on the Internet as of
midnight on the night of the match. This content will
be based on the raw feed produced for television. UEFA
the
will apply a revenue sharing system in respect of
income generated from the raw feed or
the Internet
content. UEFA intends
to build a service that will
produce UEFA Champions League content for streaming
of moving pictures on the Internet. This service can be
exploited both via uefa.com and via the football clubs'
web-sites. Clubs may acquire the raw feed from UEFA or
they may participate in the UEFA service. Clubs may
the purposes of
the content
customise and edit
creating a club focused and club branded product. Clubs
will pay a fee for the UEFA Internet service and/or the raw
feed. This fee shall be both transparent and fair, reasonable
and non-discriminatory and submitted to an arbitration
system to solve possible disputes.

for

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C 196/5

18. Both UEFA (in respect of all matches) and the clubs (in
respect of matches in which they participate) may likewise
offer streaming of live audio rights. UEFA will establish a
revenue sharing mechanism from the income generated
from uefa.com.

from the previous UEFA Champions
archive material
League season with an embargo of 48 hours after the
final. While UEFA's rights extend to all action in the
UEFA Champions League, the rights of the football clubs
are limited to action in which the football clubs are
participating.

2.3. Wireless 3G/UMTS product

19. Both UEFA (in respect of all matches) and the clubs (in
respect of matches in which they participate) will have a
right to provide audio/video content via UMTS services.
This content will be based on the raw feed produced for
television. UEFA will apply a revenue sharing system in
respect of the income generated from the raw feed or the
UMTS content. UEFA intends to build a 3G/UMTS wireless
product that will be based on an extensive video database
to be developed by UEFA. UEFA will offer the rights on an
exclusive or non-exclusive basis to operator(s) with an
UMTS licence,
four years and
initially for a period of
subsequently for periods of
three years. Clubs may
acquire the raw feed from UEFA or they may participate
in the UEFA service. The clubs may customise and edit the
content for the purposes of creating a club focused and
club branded product. This product may not consist solely
or mostly of UEFA Champions League content and must
include other club-related multimedia content as well.
Clubs will pay a fee for the UEFA wireless service and/or
the raw feed. This fee shall be both transparent and fair,
reasonable, and non-discriminatory and submitted to an
arbitration system to solve possible disputes.

2.5. Radio broadcasting rights and Internet audio

21. Both UEFA and the clubs may sell licenses to live radio
broadcasting of UEFA Champions League football matches
on a non-exclusive basis.

THE COMMISSION'S INTENTIONS

22. On the basis of the foregoing, the Commission intends to
take a favourable view in respect of UEFA's revised joint
selling arrangement. Before adopting a favourable opinion,
the Commission invites third parties to send their obser-
vations within one month of the publication of this notice
to the following address quoting the reference Case 37.398
— Joint selling of the TV rights to the UEFA Champions
League on an exclusive basis:

2.4. Physical media rights

20. Both UEFA and the football clubs are entitled to exploit
the physical media rights (DVD, VHS, CD Rom, etc.) to

European Commission
Directorate-General for Competition
Office J-70 0/18
B-1049 Brussels
Fax (32-2) 295 01 28.