Comcast’s satellite service Sky Italia is seeking financial damages from a court in Italy after alleging a deal between sports streamer DAZN and Telecom Italia (TIM) violated local antitrust laws there.
The lawsuit, filed in a Milan court in recent weeks, alleges Sky suffered losses because of antitrust violations connected to a 2021 agreement between TIM and DAZN. That deal followed DAZN’s acquisition of domestic Serie A rights for the 2021-2024 cycle, which gave the sports streaming platform the ability to show all league matches in Italy over three seasons for €2.5 billion (around U.S. $2.9 billion).
The court case was quietly mentioned in TIM’s financial earnings report earlier this month, according to Reuters, which was the first to report on the case.
Sky claims the distribution partnership between TIM and DAZN was structured to exclude it from the market. TIM said Sky is seeking €1.1 billion (around $1.3 billion) in compensation for lost profit. The claim could rise to €1.9 billion when including €500 million (around $579 million) in interest payments and as much as €380 million (around $440 million) tied to alleged brand devaluation.
TIM said the damages estimate is based on confidential expert assessments commissioned by Sky. The company said any compensation would be shared between TIM and DAZN under criteria that have not yet been determined.
Sky, TIM and DAZN have not commented on the lawsuit.
The case follows a 2023 ruling by Italy’s antitrust regulator, which found the TIM-DAZN agreement restricted competition. The regulator fined TIM €800,000 (U.S. $926,000) and DAZN €7.2 million (U.S. $8.3 million) after finding that certain clauses gave TIM preferential distribution rights and limited DAZN’s ability to partner with competing telecommunications operators.
The antitrust ruling became final last year after it was upheld by Italy’s top administrative court. DAZN’s fine was later reduced to €3.6 million (U.S. $4.2 million) in January following appeals.
TIM said it was notified of Sky’s lawsuit on March 25 and expects key hearings in the case to take place during the fourth quarter.
