ITALY Law and Practice Contributed by: Maurizio Marullo, Giorgio Vagnoni, Francesco Amoresano and Fausto Consolo, LAWP Studio legale e tributario
are increasingly linked to sponsors (eg, match sponsors, award sponsors, etc). This focus on branding is even more crucial since the legal ban on betting sponsors has forced clubs to seek alternative revenue streams. 2.3 Broadcasting Legislative Decree No 9/2008 (the “Melan - dri Law” ) marked the transition from a system based on the ownership of sports broadcasting rights by each event organiser (like home teams in leagues), to a system based on co-ownership by competition organisers and participating clubs, with the aim of ensuring a competitive balance among clubs through a fairer distribu - tion of revenues, to achieve a more transparent and efficient broadcasting rights market. Competition organisers are in charge of market - ing broadcasting rights of such competitions worldwide in the interests of the participating clubs. Event organisers still maintain full rights to foot - age and audio of past events (shared with the visiting club), whereas the mass media maintain the right to report and cover sports events, with limitations concerning live matches. Rights to footage and audio of past events may also be exploited commercially by the respective hold - ers, which may still retain the right to use them on their own platforms (eg, social media) for non- commercial and/or reporting purposes. Specific guidelines govern the procedures for assigning broadcasting rights to the best bid - der in a transparent tender procedure, as well as the maximum duration of licensing contracts and specific rules for the formation of so-called broadcasting bundles.
For instance, in the Italian market, broadcast - ing rights of professional sports competitions are assigned over five seasons through vari - ous packages (eg, matches, highlights, unen - crypted broadcasting, radio, etc). Importantly, no single entity can acquire exclusive rights for all matches. On the other hand, following further amendments to the Melandri Law in 2023, more flexibility has been introduced in the commer - cialisation of broadcasting rights on the interna - tional market. The Melandri Law establishes criteria for distrib - uting broadcasting revenues among participat - ing clubs. Notably, Serie, A has specific rules requiring a portion of these revenues to be allo - cated to youth development, minor leagues, and sports infrastructure improvements. Only the assigned broadcaster can film and broadcast the event. While journalists from vari - ous companies can attend the venue, they can - not capture audio, video, or pictures for broad - casting purposes. However, they retain the right to narrate the event for news reporting purposes. Further, after certain amendments in 2023, the Melandri Law is in the process of being over - hauled in 2025 to reflect the importance of new available technologies and the ever-increasing number of sport-related content which has been developed over the years.
3. Sports Events 3.1 Relationships
Rights in a sports event (and pertaining obliga - tions) are typically attributed to the organiser; however, said attribution may depend on mul - tiple factors (eg, venue ownership, any delega -
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