Competition Law And Sports Governance: Disentangling A Complex Relationship

I have uploaded on ssrn (see here) a new paper, which deals with the application of Articles 101 and 102 TFEU to sporting activities. There is no need to point out how topical and important the issue has become, given that the Court hearings in International Skating Union and Super League are around the corner.

The paper builds on some posts shared on the blog (see here and here) and, in particular, a seminar delivered in the context of the mardis du droit de la concurrence at ULB.

It would be wonderful to hear your views on the piece, the main points of which can be summarised as follows:

First, it would be incorrect to see participants in a sports tournament (such as a football team) exclusively as competitors. The worth of participants depends on their ability to rival each other. In addition, cooperation between them allows them to offer something (a tournament, a championship) that is more than the sum of its parts (a collection of disparate games).

The consequence, for the purposes of competition law, is that organised sport is best understood as a joint venture in which participants both compete and cooperate (‘co-opete’) under the umbrella of a governing body. From this perspective, they are analogous to franchising and selective distribution systems.

Second, frictions of a horizontal and a vertical nature are bound to arise in organised sports. Frictions are said to be vertical when they involve governing bodies and individual participants. As recent cases show, opportunism is a potential source of vertical frictions…

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