Sports broadcasters fined £4m for colluding over freelance pay rates

Four major UK sports broadcasting and production companies have been fined over £4 million for illegally colluding on freelance pay rates. The UK's competition watchdog stated that the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), British Telecommunications (BT), IMG, and ITV must pay a total of £4.24 million in fines after being found to have shared information on freelance fees, including those for cameramen and sound technicians.

Sky also admitted to violating the law but avoided a fine by reporting its involvement to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) before the investigation began. All five companies hire freelancers to produce sports content and are involved in the production of live matches and events. The CMA found 15 instances of two companies illegally sharing pay information, such as daily rates and increases, with the aim of coordinating freelance pay levels.

The investigation revealed that one company told another that they "wanted to stay aligned and benchmark rates" but had "no intention of triggering a bidding war." Julie Enser, Executive Director of Competition Enforcement at the regulator, pointed out that "millions of people watch sports on TV every day, and production teams work hard behind the scenes to make it happen," so "they deserve to be paid fairly."

Enser added: "Companies should set rates independently to ensure pay is competitive – otherwise, they risk workers losing out." She emphasized: "Employers must ensure that those hiring staff understand and comply with the rules to prevent this from happening in the future." BT and IMG were each fined £1.7 million, while the BBC must pay £424,000, and ITV was fined £340,000.

All four broadcasters told BBC News that they had "fully cooperated" with the investigation. A BBC spokesperson stated that the company "takes its competition law obligations seriously" and added: "The BBC was involved in 3 of the 15 breaches identified by the CMA and admitted liability for these as soon as possible." A spokeswoman for BT Group also stated that the company takes its obligations seriously and "accepts the findings" and has "agreed a settlement with the CMA."

ITV said in a statement: "ITV is fully committed to compliance with competition law and cooperated with the CMA throughout its investigation. In line with the CMA’s findings, we have implemented further enhanced competition law compliance measures across our business." IMG said in a statement that the matter "is now resolved" and that "all necessary steps have been taken to address any prior compliance issues."

Separately, the CMA closed a similar investigation on Friday into non-sports television programs, with the BBC, ITV, Hartswood Films, Hat Trick Productions, Red Planet Pictures, Sister Pictures, and Tiger Aspect Productions among those under investigation. The regulator stated that no decision has been made on whether they engaged in anti-competitive behavior.