Foreign Broadcasts Get October Ruling
The ruling in the Premier League’s battle with a UK publican over unauthorised broadcasting of its matches will be delivered on 4th October in the European Court of Justice – according to media reports.
The long-running court case could lead to a major overhaul of the way sports rights are sold across Europe.
The court’s advocate general Juliane Kokott, said earlier this year that the exclusive licensing of the League’s rights by single European territory, was against the ‘free movement of goods and services’ – one of the founding principles of the European Union.
Richard Scudamore, CEO of the Premier League, told the UK government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport, that the league has not conducted an assessment of the effect on the Premier League’s finances should territorial licensing be ruled illegal.
The chief executive added that being allowed to sell overseas rights on a territory-by-territory basis was important both to the Premier League and to foreign consumers.
Scudamore explained that rights were marketed and prepared differently according to the specific needs of the territory.
