Trustbuster supports class action against sports channels

Antitrust Commissioner Ronit Kan supports the prosecution in an NIS 438 million class action being filed against the Sports Channel and the broadcast company Charlton, which owns the rights to various sports events.

The claim, filed by Attorney Shlomi Cohen, states that Charlton, which owns the rights to Israeli and English soccer and basketball games, and its competitor, the Sports Channel, which broadcasts Spanish and Italian soccer games, agreed to coordinate broadcasting times of Saturday sporting events in order to avoid competition.

Kan believes the October 2004 agreement over broadcast rights is anticompetitive. She submitted her position to the Tel Aviv District Court.

According to the lawsuit, under the 2004 agreement, the Sports Channel can broadcasts live Spanish and Italian games only before 9:30 P.M. This, the claimants say, was meant to limit the options on Saturday to ensure that sports lovers would choose to watch Charlton on pay-per-view.

"A preliminary review revealed that there appears to be a basis for the complaint," Kan stated. She added that the companies' agreement constitutes a horizontal division of the market between competitors, the most severe type. The commissioner says that the law clearly sees such a move as harmful to competition. The assumption is that such pacts have no legitimate purpose or explanation. Nor, she says, have the defendants provided any legitimate explanation for including this article in the agreement. In addition, the article unlawfully limits the quantity of assets and services in the market, she said.

"The only possible rationale at the basis of this is limiting competition. The Sports Channel has simply denied consumers access to a substantial part of the market. The games of the four top leagues are generally played on Saturdays and Sundays in the afternoon and evening hours," she added.