United We Stand: The Anti-Competitive Implications of Media Ownership of Athletic Teams in Great Britain

Authors

Jonathan E. Bush

First Page

1445

Abstract

This Note analyzes the increasing integration of the sports and broadcasting industries and the British framework for evaluating the permissibility of transactions furthering such integration. In the context of the recent attempted takeover of British football club Manchester United by Rupert Murdoch's British Sky Broadcasting, the Note examines how the Monopolies and Mergers Commission (MMC) was uniquely poised to fully consider the ramifications of this developing nexus of sports and media and evaluates the significance of the MMC's decision on the future of both industries.

A diverse array of domestic, international, political, and economic issues and implications face any court or administrative agency confronted with a media/sports merger. Although the MMC ultimately recommended that the British Sky Broadcasting-Manchester United merger be prohibited, it will only be determined through the united consideration of such an array of issues whether the vertical integration of broadcasting and professional athletics is merely the inevitable result of a growing trend or a legitimate cause of concern for free competition in sports and media worldwide.

Recommended Citation

Jonathan E. Bush, United We Stand: The Anti-Competitive Implications of Media Ownership of Athletic Teams in Great Britain, 32 Vanderbilt Law Review 1445 (2021)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/vjtl/vol32/iss5/5