Football fans should be able to shop around the EU for the cheapest satellite decoder cards, thanks to a decision taken by the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg yesterday.
Football fans are no longer dependent on Melita and Go to watch their favourite teams as if they are doing us a favour
The present system where fans are constrained by broadcasting network providers, Melita and Go, to pay high prices to watch their favourite football teams play on TV, may be in for a massive shake-up.
The decision, considered to be a landmark judgment with wide implications, was welcomed by Melita although Go is still mulling the impact of this judgment on its multimillion deal.
The ECJ declared that the system used by the British FA to sell exclusive territorial rights for the live transmission of Premier League matches infringed EU law, particularly the free movement of services and competition law.
The court made it clear there was nothing wrong for an EU citizen to watch these matches via a foreign decoder obtained legally.
“The court holds that national legislation which prohibits the import, sale or use of foreign decoder cards is contrary to the freedom to provide services and cannot be justified, either in light of the objective of protecting intellectual property rights, or by the objective of encouraging the public to attend football stadiums,” the judgment said.
Although this particular case involved the British Premier League, many other football associations and individual clubs in the EU use similar systems to sell TV rights. This may all have to change following this judgment.
This court’s decision may also affect the future rights associated with other broadcasting content, such as movies and music. However, the latter is not as straightforward as football as it may be covered by copyright and intellectual rights.
The judgment was definitely good news for Nationalist MP David Agius who has been insisting, without success, that Melita and Go offer a better deal for Maltese football fans.
“This judgment is very important and very welcome news to Maltese football fans,” Mr Agius told The Times when contacted.
“Football fans are no longer dependent on Melita and Go to watch their favourite teams as if they are doing us a favour. Thanks to the EU’s internal market we can now shop around and get the best deal. I’ve been insisting on this and the ECJ’s ruling is great news for consumers,” he said.
On their part, the two broadcasting networks affected by this decision reacted differently.
Go, which is potentially the worst hit as it bought exclusive rights for the Premier League and Italy’s Serie A, had no official reaction saying it was still studying the implications of this judgment.
On the other hand, Melita, which had held the monopoly for years before losing it to Go, welcomed the news and insisted on the need of “channel sharing”.
“From an operator’s perspective this decision will broaden access to content as borders are removed. The expectation is that the ruling will also impact other forms of content, such as movies and series channels,” a Melita spokesman said.
“From Malta’s perspective, this decision re-emphasises the need for local operators to collaborate and reach an agreement on channel sharing. This would enhance the product offering for consumers and reduce the outflow of millions of euros paid in fees, which could instead be used on infrastructure, services and creating additional employment in Malta,” he said.
The judgment confirmed an earlier opinion given by the EU’s Attorney General last February in a case involving Karen Murphy, a British pub owner accused by the British Premier League of acting illegally when using a Greek decoder card to show live matches in her pub transmitted by Hellenic company Nova. A subscription to Nova is much cheaper than a subscription to Sky or ESPN, which hold exclusive broadcast rights to live Premier League football in the UK.
The Football Association Premier League Ltd (FAPL), a private company set up to represent the broadcasting interests of English football clubs, sells exclusive TV rights to broadcasters across Europe on a territory by territory basis.
Enforcers acting for FAPL prosecuted Ms Murphy for showing matches on Nova in her pub and fined her £8,000 on the basis that only games broadcast by Sky or ESPN could be shown in the UK.
However, Ms Murphy decided to take her case to the ECJ and her clients will no doubt have raised a glass to her victory.