Editor’s
note: Thomas Terraz is a third year LL.B.
candidate at the International and European Law programme at The Hague
University of Applied Sciences with a specialisation in European Law. Currently
he is pursuing an internship at the T.M.C. Asser Institute with a focus on
International and European Sports Law.
1.
Introduction
The
organizational structure of sports in Europe is distinguished by its
pyramid structure which is marked by an open promotion and relegation system. A
truly closed system, without promotion and relegation, is unknown to Europe,
while it is the main structure found in North American professional sports
leagues such as the NFL, NBA and the NHL. Recently, top European football clubs
along with certain members of UEFA have been debating different possibilities
of introducing
a more closed league system to European
football. Some
football clubs have even wielded the threat of
forming an elite closed breakaway league. Piercing through these intimidations
and rumors, the question of whether a closed league system could even survive
the scrutiny of EU competition law remains. It could be argued that an
agreement between clubs to create a completely closed league stifles
competition and would most likely trigger the application of Article 101 and
102 TFEU.[1]
Interestingly, a completely closed league franchise system has already
permeated the European continent. As outlined in my
previous blog, the League of Legends European
Championship (LEC) is a European e-sports competition that has recently
rebranded and restructured this year from an open promotion and relegation
system to a completely closed franchise league to model its sister competition
from North America, the League Championship Series. This case is an enticing
opportunity to test how EU competition law could apply to such a competition
structure.
As
a preliminary note, this blog does not aim to argue whether the LEC is a ‘real’
sport competition and makes the assumption that the LEC could be considered as
a sports competition.[2]
More...