Press Release: New cartel procedure used for the first time for the liberalisation of the central marketing of Bundesliga rights

For the first time the European Commission has published commitments in the Official Journal that it will declare binding under the new Antitrust Regulation (EC) No 1/2003, 17 September 2004. The undertakings were given by the German Football League (DFL) regarding the marketing of rights to broadcast Bundesliga matches. The revised agreement reached with the DFL shall further liberalise broadcasting rights, particularly in connection with new media, such as UMTS and broadband internet. This is thought to give German football fans the chance to see more live matches.

European Commission: Press Release: IP/03/1106 http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/03/1106&format=HTML&aged=1&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

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