FOX London offices raided by European Commission over sports rights
EC seizes documents & computers amid concerns of possible anti-competitive practices regarding the distribution of sports rights.
- Published by David Knox
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The London offices of 21st Century Fox’s FOX Networks Group were raided by European Commission investigators on Tuesday as part of a wider probe into possible anti-competitive practices regarding the distribution of sports rights in the region.
Documents and computer records have been seized, according to reports.
“The European Commission can confirm that on 10 April 2018 its officials carried out unannounced inspections in several [European Union] member states at the premises of companies active in the distribution of media rights and related rights pertaining to various sports events and/or their broadcasting,” the commission said in a statement.
“The commission has concerns that the companies involved may have violated EU antitrust rules that prohibit cartels and restrictive business practices,” the EC said, adding: “Unannounced inspections are a preliminary step into suspected anti-competitive practices. The fact that the commission carries out such inspections does not mean that the companies are guilty of anti-competitive behaviour nor does it prejudge the outcome of the investigation itself.”
FOX Networks Group currently comprises FOX Television Group, which includes FOX Broadcasting and 20th Century FOX Television; FOX Sports Media Group; Fox Cable Networks, which includes FX Networks and National Geographic Partners; and FOX Networks Group Europe, Asia and Latin America.
Source: Variety
2 Responses
I hope they don’t get the cricket….. I just added sport so i could watch the IPL, the first game advertised as Live started with the score at a 100? ….. the next game even though i added 20mins extra it failed to show the end??….. third time lucky no it failed to record?? i ended up watching the heavily edited version maybe they should get rid of some of the racing channels …. it is a nightmare trying to find anything!
This story is a good follow up to the discussion about TV cricket rights, Pay TV and the public’s right to watch sport, especially national sports like Rugby, Cricket and prestigious international competition like footballs World cup and of course the Olympics. The massive sums bid for English Premier League and European Football competitions does mean those dependent on FTA will be left out by the commercial Pay TV enterprises run by Murdoch and the pecuniary interests of ruling bodies that control multi-national sport in general..