Suspected anti-competitive behaviour relating to freelance labour in the production and broadcasting of sports content
The CMA has issued an infringement decision under the Competition Act 1998 after investigating anti-competitive arrangements in relation to the purchase of freelance services supporting the production and broadcasting of sports content in the UK.
Administrative timetable
| Date | Action |
|---|---|
| 21 March 2025 | Infringement decision issued to the parties and settlement announced |
| March 2025 | Pre-Statement of Objections (SO) settlement concluded and SO issued to the parties |
| Aug 2024 to Feb 2025 | Further assessment of evidence |
| July 2024 | Decision to close the investigation of Sunset & Vine Productions Limited on administrative priority grounds. Investigation continuing against 5 other parties (see Case information below). |
| March 2024 to June 2024 | Ongoing assessment of information gathered in respect of the purchase of freelance services supporting the production and broadcasting of sports content in the UK |
| March 2024 | Investigation narrowed to exclude suspected breaches of competition law in relation to the employment of staff supporting the production and broadcasting of sports content in the UK, (see February 2023 entry below) |
| November 2023 to March 2024 | Further investigatory steps and assessment of evidence |
| April 2023 to October 2023 | Further information gathering and review and analysis of information gathered |
| April 2023 | Formal notice of investigation issued to two further case parties: the British Broadcasting Corporation and Sunset & Vine Productions Limited |
| January 2023 to April 2023 | Further review and analysis of information gathered |
| February 2023 | Investigation extended to include suspected breaches of competition law in relation to the employment of staff supporting the production and broadcasting of sports content in the UK |
| July 2022 to January 2023 | Initial investigation: information gathering |
| 12 July 2022 | Investigation opened in relation to the purchase of freelance services. Formal notice of investigation issued to four case parties: BT Group plc, IMG Media Limited (including Premier League Productions), ITV plcand Sky UK Limited |
Infringement decision and settlement
21 March 2025: the CMA issued an infringement decision to 5 companies involved in the production and broadcasting of sports content, and imposed fines totalling over £4 million.
The CMA’s decision encompasses 15 separate bilateral infringements of competition law. The CMA has found in each instance the disclosure and receipt, or the exchange, of competitively sensitive information in respect of rates of pay for freelance workers that support the production and broadcasting of sports content in the UK. The CMA has further found, in 10 of these 15 instances, that the objectives of the infringements included coordination on pay.
The decision is addressed to the following entities: the British Broadcasting Corporation (‘BBC’); BT Group plc (‘BT’); IMG Media Limited, its current parent company Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc, and its previous parent company Endeavor Operating Company, LLC (together ‘IMG’); ITV Broadcasting Limited and its parent company ITV plc (together ‘ITV’); and Sky UK Limited and its previous parent company Sky Limited (together ‘Sky’).
Sky (involved in 10 infringements between March 2014 and January 2021) alerted the CMA to its participation in the unlawful conduct under the CMA’s leniency policy and benefits from immunity from any fine.
The other 4 companies – BT, IMG, ITV and BBC – have settled and agreed to pay fines totalling £4,240,356.
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BT (6 infringements between August 2014 and September 2021) - total penalty of £1,738,453 (includes a 15% leniency discount and a 20% settlement discount)
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IMG (6 infringements between April 2016 and October 2021) - total penalty of £1,737,820 (includes a 40% leniency discount and a 20% settlement discount)
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ITV (5 infringements between March 2014 and May 2018) - total penalty of £339,918 (includes a 42.5% leniency discount and a 20% settlement discount)
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BBC (3 infringements between July 2016 and October 2021) - total penalty of £424,165 (includes a 20% settlement discount)
The freelance services affected differ from infringement-to-infringement. Across the totality of the 15 infringements, information was shared concerning rates of pay for the following twenty production roles fulfilled by freelancers: Assistant Producers; Camera Operators; Directors (aka Studio Directors); Editors; EVS Operators; Floor Managers (aka Studio Floor Managers); Gallery Production Assistants; Jib Operators; Makeup Artists; Producers; Production Assistants (aka Script Supervisors); Runners; Sound Guarantees; Sound Supervisors; Sound Technicians; Technical Producers; Vision Engineers; Vision Guarantees; Vision Mixers; and VT Coordinators. None of the infringements affected all of these production roles, and many of these roles were affected by no more than three infringements.
The infringements took place between bilateral pairs of the parties on dates between March 2014 and October 2021, as follows:
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Infringement 1, involving ITV and Sky, in March 2014
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Infringement 2, involving BT and ITV, in August 2014
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Infringement 3, involving ITV and Sky, between August and September 2015
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Infringement 4, involving IMG and Sky, in April 2016
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Infringement 5, involving ITV and Sky, between April 2016 and January 2017
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Infringement 6, involving BBC and Sky, between July and November 2016
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Infringement 7, involving BT and Sky, between March and May 2018
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Infringement 8, involving ITV and Sky, in May 2018
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Infringement 9, involving IMG and Sky, in July 2019
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Infringement 10, involving BT and IMG in December 2020
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Infringement 11, involving BT and Sky, between December 2020 and January 2021
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Infringement 12, involving IMG and Sky, in January 2021
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Infringement 13, involving BT and IMG, in July 2021
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Infringement 14, involving BBC and BT, in September 2021
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Infringement 15, involving BBC and IMG, in October 2021
Press notice: Sports broadcast and production companies fined £4 million in freelancer pay investigation
Case information
12 July 2022: the CMA launched an investigation under section 25 of the Competition Act 1998 (‘CA98’) into suspected infringements of the Chapter I prohibition of the CA98 by undertakings involved in the production and broadcasting of sports content.
The investigation concerns the activities of these undertakings in relation to the purchase of freelance services which support the production and broadcasting of sports content in the UK.
The CMA is currently investigating suspected breaches of competition law by the following:
- the British Broadcasting Corporation
- BT Group plc
- IMG Media Limited (including Premier League Productions)
- ITV plc
- Sky UK Limited
At this stage the CMA believes it has reasonable grounds to suspect one or more breaches of competition law. The CMA has not reached a view as to whether there is sufficient evidence of an infringement of competition law for it to issue a SO to any party or parties. Not all cases result in the CMA issuing a SO and no assumption should be made at this stage that the CA98 has been infringed.
Personal data
The CMA may collect, use and share personal data for its investigations, including investigations under the CA98. This includes processing personal data for the purposes of the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.
For more information about how the CMA handles personal information, please see the CMA’s Personal Information Charter.
Contacts
Assistant Project Directors
Rhiannon Davies, rhiannon.davies@cma.gov.uk
Jeremy Bohl, jeremy.bohl@cma.gov.uk
Project Director
Daniel Rawling daniel.rawling@cma.gov.uk
Senior Responsible Officer
Lucília Falsarella Pereira, Lucilia.Falsarella-Pereira@cma.gov.uk
Media contact
Any media enquiries should be directed to a member of our Press Office: press@cma.gov.uk
Information about suspected anti-competitive activity can be reported to the CMA.
Updates to this page
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Infringement decision and settlement published.
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Administrative timetable and Case information updated.
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Update to administrative timetable
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Administrative timetable updated
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Administrative timetable and case information updated.
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First published.