Italian watchdog rejects proposals from DAZN and TIM over Serie A probe

The Italian antitrust body has rejected proposals from DAZN and TIM to curb its probe into the pair’s deal to distribute Serie A matches in Italy.

According to Reuters, new documents shown on Monday show that both TIM and DAZN submitted proposals in an effort to convince the regulator that the partnership would not negatively impact competition. 

Those proposals however were dismissed by the regulator, which said that neither company went far enough to address its concerns. 

Should DAZN and TIM be found in violation of antitrust rules they could each be fined up to 10% of their turnover.

The ‘historic’ tie-up between DAZN and TIM sees the pay TV operator pay around 40% of the total rights fee (roughly €340 million per season) in exchange for carrying DAZN’s linear channels and becoming the reference pay TV operator offering DAZN’s content in Italy.

The antitrust regulator opened a formal probe into the deal in July 2021, following complaints from Sky Italia that the partnership was ‘illegitimate’ and that it would serve to strengthen TIM’s dominant position in the market by preventing DAZN from agreeing deals with other operators. At the time, the watchdog said: “the agreement between TIM and DAZN could lead to significant distortions of competition.”

The regulator has extended its probe from a previous deadline of June 30 2022 to March 31 2023.