Recently, David Beckham, a widely recognized soccer superstar, was hired to play for the Los Angeles Galaxy, a professional soccer team which is a member of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the United States. This signing could have a tremendous impact on the success of professional soccer in the States. But, an ongoing legal debate currently taking place in the European Union, regarding the treatment of professional soccer under the Treaty Establishing the European Community (EC Treaty) may have an even greater impact on professional soccer in America, as the treatment of soccer in EU may significantly affect European players' willingness to play in the MLS, instead of in Europe. This article discusses the application of EU competition law to the rules and regulations of professional soccer in Europe. How competition law is applied may affect the willingness of soccer superstars to play in the MLS instead of in Europe, where professional soccer leagues are thought to currently be more prestigious.
Soccer is a sport which is deeply engrained in European culture. It has also grown to be an enormous business enterprise. [1] Given this tremendous growth, the economic enterprise of professional soccer has come under close scrutiny by European Enion (EU) institutions. [2] The impetus of the EU's current involvement in professional soccer can be traced back to the European Court of Justice's (ECJ) decision in Union Royals Belge des Societes de Football ASBL v. Bosman. [3] Since then, a number of legal issues have arisen in the world of professional soccer. Most notably, the questions of whether and how EU competition rules apply to professional soccer have been raised but not completely addressed.
This series of articles discuss the application of EU competition law to the rules and regulations of professional soccer in Europe. The next installment, Part One, will provide a background history of the current controversy regarding the application of EU competition rules to professional soccer. An overview of the governing bodies of professional soccer in Europe will also be provided. Finally, Part One will introduce the Bosman case, and discuss how that case has led to the debate over the application of competition law in the realm of professional soccer.
Part Two of this article will discuss whether competition law should apply to professional soccer. This article maintains that given the fact that professional soccer has become a significant economic enterprise, aside from its socio-cultural significance, it would be appropriate, if not necessary, for the EU to regulate professional soccer in Europe through the application of Article 81 of the EC Treaty. [4]
Part Three of this article will discuss how competition law should apply to professional soccer. The argument will be made that professional soccer is a unique form of business, unlike a regular business enterprise, and that such uniqueness dictates that professional soccer should not be subject to competition laws in the same way that ordinary businesses are subject to competition laws. A balance needs to be achieved between the interests of the EU in regulating professional soccer through competition law and the interests in supporting the success of professional soccer in the EU. The development of the current regulatory approach will be addressed through a discussion of relevant EC Treaty provisions, the European Commission's stance on regulating professional soccer, and ECJ opinions and judgments.
Part Four of this article will utilize the method of EU regulation formulated in part Three, and apply it to specific problems inherent in professional soccer today. More specifically, Part Four will address concerns over the current player transfer system, and how the treatment of these concerns may affect professional soccer in the United States. Despite the stated justifications for the transfer system, the application of the regulatory principles formed in Part Three will show that the current transfer rules are most likely in violation of Article 81 of the EC Treaty. In the long run, this may result in an influx of European players to the United States, thereby creating the possibility of a high level of competition, prestige, and success for professional soccer in the United States.
Ultimately, this article attempts to analyze the application of competition law to professional soccer rules in Europe, and how those rules, and EU regulation may have positive effects on professional soccer in the United States.
Sources:
1. JOSE LUIS ARNAUT, INDEPENDENT EUROPEAN SPORT REVIEW 18 (2006),http://www.independentfootballreview.com/doc/Full_Report_EN.pdf. The author notes that spoprts in Europe has experienced an unprecedented level of development in economic terms, id. at 18. It has been estimated that sports represents 1% of the GDP in the European Union, future television rights for the Champions Legaue in professional soccer should exceed the previos mark of $780 million, and overall revenues produced by the top five soccer leagues in Europe from 2003-2004 totaled 5.8 billion pounds, id.
2. Ken Foster, Can Sports be Regulated by Europe?: An Analysis of Alternative Models, in PROFESSIONAL SPORT IN THE EU: REGULATION AND RE-REGULATION 44-46 (Andrew Caiger and Simon Gardiner, eds., T.M.C. Asser Press 2000) (discussing the four phases of EU involvement in sports, beginning with non-intervention up until 1995, when the Bosman case was decided, after which, the EU has taken a much more proactive role in the regulation of sports).
3. Case C-415/93, Union Royale Belge des Societes de Football ASBL v. Bosman, 1995 E.C.R. I-4921.
4. Treaty Establishing the European Community, Dec. 24, 2002, 2002 O.J. (C 325) [hereinafter EC Treaty]. Article 81 is the primary competition law principle in the EC Treaty. Article 2 is also quite relevent: It provides that : "The Community shall have as its task, by establishing a common market, and an economic and monetary union and by implementing common policies or activities referred to in Articles 3 and 4, to promote throughout the Community a harmonious, balanced, and sustainable development of economic activities, a high level of employment and of social protection, equality between men and women, sustainable and non-inflationary growth, a high degree of competitiveness and convergence of economic performance, a high level of protection and improvement of the quality of the environment, the raising of the standard of living and quality of life, and economic and social cohesion and solidarity among Member States."