Italy’s antitrust regulator announced recently that it will be officially launching a probe into a technical and distribution deal between sports streaming app DAZN and Telecom Italia, in which DAZN secured the rights to screen Italian Serie A soccer matches over the next three seasons for a 2.5 billion euro price tag.
According to the terms of the deal, Telecom Italia could cover up to 40% of the annual payments that DAZN is expected to make to Serie A. As a result, the antitrust regulator is concerned that the deal could hurt competition for the broadcast of live Serie A games.
Furthermore, the watchdog expressed concern over the potential harm that could come to the pay-TV market and other businesses that overlap with this sector as a result of the deal.
Prior to the probe, pay-TV operator SKY Italia, owned by Comcast, challenged the deal between DAZN and Telecom Italia on antitrust grounds. The television platform mentioned that a deal of this nature would only strengthen the position of Telecom Italia, which has already proven to be a dominant force in the market.
