FA Premier League Down at Half-Time in European Championship:Advocate General Finds that Territorial Exclusivity Agreements Relating to the Transmission of Football Matches are Contrary to EU Law

摘要

In June 2008, the question of the legality of the use of foreign decoder cards in the United Kingdom to enable access to foreign transmissions of live Premier League football matches, together with a number of related questions, was referred to Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) by the High Court. The foreign cards, which were subject to territorial exclusivity agreements, were being used to show live matches in pubs in the United Kingdom. On February 3, 2011, A. G. Kokott gave her opinion on this matter, and found that territorial exclusivity agreements relating to the transmission of live football matches are contrary to EU law relating to free movement of services. If the ECJ follows her opinion, this case could have serious implications because it may prevent national broadcasters from controlling reception of their live programming across the EU.1