Sky Italia fined €7m for ‘misleading’ subs on football
February 19, 2019
From Branislav Pekic in Rome
Italy’s Antitrust Authority has fined Sky Italia €7 million for failing to provide “clear and immediate” information to potential subscribers that it did not have all Serie A’s games in its football package this season.
From this season, streaming platform DAZN has been airing three out of the ten weekly matches, leaving Sky Italia with the remaining seven.
In total, DAZN has exclusive multi-platform rights to 114 matches each season for the three-year period 2018-2021. For its part, Sky has exclusive coverage of 266 games per season.
The Antitrust Authority identified two violations of the Consumer Code and established that Sky Italia engaged in an aggressive practice, “unduly constraining” subscribers of the Sky Calcio package to choose between two options.
The first was to continue subscribing to the package, despite the reduced content (30 per cent less Serie A matches and cancellation of the entire Serie B), or to end the contract with the payment of penalties.
The action of the Authority followed complaints by consumer associations Altroconsumo, Codacons, Codici and Udicon.
Following the ruling, Codacons requested that Sky Italia reimburse all those who have subscribed to the football season ticket”, adding that it is prepared to file a lawsuit for collective compensation.