Jan
Swiss court rules against UPC in ice-hockey case
The Swiss Federal Administrative Court has upheld a decision by the country’s competition watchdog, COMCO, which found that UPC Switzerland, owned by Liberty Global and now part of Sunrise, abused its dominant position in broadcasting Swiss ice hockey during its rights-holding period. The court affirmed COMCO’s determination that UPC Switzerland held a dominant position from 2017 to 2022, holding the rights to National League and Swiss League. During this time, UPC Switzerland allegedly refused to make an offer to Swisscom or its Blue Entertainment unit for the retransmission of the matches for almost three years.
Swiss court rules against UPC in ice-hockey case
Swiss court rules against UPC in ice-hockey case
The court acknowledged the necessity of making these matches available for the competitive functioning of the pay TV market. However, it slightly reduced the fine imposed by COMCO, adjusting it from CHF30 million to CHF29.1 million.
Furthermore, the court upheld COMCO’s ruling that UPC had to provide ice hockey coverage to all Swiss TV platforms, either by offering its raw signal to them or by making its MySports service available at commercially fair terms.
Sunrise, the current owner of UPC Switzerland, has the option to appeal this decision with the country’s Federal Court. Notably, Sunrise/UPC and Swisscom have a history of disputes over sports rights. In 2022, the same court that ruled against UPC in this case confirmed a fine on Swisscom and Blue Entertainment, imposed by COMCO for the latter’s abuse of its dominant position in the provision of national football and ice hockey between 2002-2012. Swisscom defended its position at the time, justifying its exclusive offering on its platform as a means to recoup significant investments in sports content that had been previously neglected.
Swiss court rules against UPC in ice-hockey case
Swiss court rules against UPC in ice-hockey case
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