A regional administrative court has said sanctions imposed by Italy’s competition authority on TIM and DAZN were justified.
The ruling by the TAR in Lazio relates to some of the clauses in the contract between the streamer and its distribution partner for the period between 2021 and 2024.
As a result of the original judgement, fines were issued to TIM and DAZN based on the marketing of the television rights for the 2021/22 season. It said the agreement gave exclusivity to TIM and prohibited partnerships with competitors, resulting in the risk of harming the competitive dynamics of the market.
Offers put forward by TIM could not be replicated by other platforms.
The authority fined TIM €760,776.82 and DAZN €7,240,250.84 euros .
The TAR said it was clear that the commercial strategy was aimed at increasing TIM customers by making it difficult to access DAZN content independent of TIM services.
The appeal judges accepted appeals brought by Sky and Fastweb concerning differences between the communication of preliminary findings in the case and the final decision.
It ordered the Authority to restart the preliminary investigation procedure.
