Regulating Sport after Superleague: Competition, Governance, and the Societal Dimension of Media Rights in the Eu and the Italian Framework

The Superleague judgment marked a pivotal moment in the evolution of EU sports regulation, prompting a renewed examination of how competition law interacts with the governance and societal functions of sport. This article explores the implications of the judgment for the regulatory framework governing sport in Europe and Italy, with particular attention to the treatment of media rights as a vehicle for financing sport’s broader social mission. While media rights represent a crucial source of revenue, their allocation and exploitation cannot be understood solely through the lens of market power or commercial efficiency. Instead, they sit at the intersection of competition law, sporting autonomy, and the principles of solidarity and competitive balance that underpin the European sports model. By integrating EU-level jurisprudence with national regulations, the article argues that the case law provides an opportunity to strengthen a coherent regulatory approach that balances commercialisation with public-interest objectives.