Denmark: New players, new rules – football media rights commitments amended due to market developments

The Association of Danish League Clubs (“ADLC”), consisting of the premier Danish football clubs, jointly sells all media rights to the premier Danish football league (the Superliga).
Absent such an agreement on joint sales, the Danish football clubs would be in competition with each other for the sale of the media rights controlled by each of them.

Due to the concerns this raises in relation to the sale of media rights to broadcasters, the Danish Competition Council (“DCC”) has in both 2007 and 2014 found commitments from the ADLC necessary to accept this agreement to jointly sell, as the cooperation would otherwise risk infringing Article 101(1) TFEU and/or Article 6 of the Danish Competition Act.

Pursuant to these commitments, the media rights could only be sold in packages to multiple bidders, thereby prohibiting exclusivity. Moreover, the method for tendering the media rights was regulated in great detail under these commitments.

In a decision dated 21 December 2022, the DCC has, however, accepted a partial temporary suspension of the previous commitments made.

The partial temporary suspension includes a suspension of the “no single buyer”-rule, which means that it will be possible for one broadcaster, streaming service or distributor to acquire the media rights to the Superliga exclusively for up to four seasons.

In addition to this, the tender conditions have been simplified greatly, as the DCC considers that it will be sufficient to ensure competition if a trustee monitors that the media rights are sold in an open tender on equal, transparent and non-discriminatory terms.

The DCC cites market developments in the TV markets as the background for the partial temporary suspension of the commitments, as recent developments entail that a joint sale will be less likely to restrict competition. These developments consist primarily in the emergence of:

1. streaming services;
2. consumers’ free choice of distributor; and
3. consumers choice of TV channels in their TV packages.

Due to the perceived importance of the media rights to the Superliga for consumers in relation to the market for distribution of media rights (but also related broadcasting markets), the new commitments will be subject to a revised review following the expiry of the current temporary suspension.

The decision by the DCC is accessible here (in Danish)

For more information, please contact Morten Nissen or Alexander Brøchner.

VISIT OUR COMPETITION & EU HOMEPAGE