In its ruling of 24 September 2025 (2C_683/2023), the Swiss Federal Supreme Court (BGer) upheld the sanctioning of Sunrise/UPC for denying access to ice hockey broadcasts on Pay-TV. Rights holders of exclusive content would be well advised to review their own offer and licensing practices in this context.
Background
UPC Switzerland (part of Sunrise since 2021) secured exclusive broadcasting rights for the top Swiss ice hockey leagues starting from the 2017/18 season, which it aired via its sports channel MySports.
In 2017, Swisscom filed a complaint with the Swiss Competition Commission (COMCO) because UPC Switzerland refused to provide a distribution offer for the Swiss ice hockey broadcasts. COMCO found an abuse of a dominant market position and imposed a sanction of over CHF 29 million in 2020, largely upheld by the Federal Administrative Court. Sunrise/UPC appealed to the Federal Supreme Court (link in German only).
The BGer Ruling
The Federal Supreme Court (link in German only) considers UPC Switzerland’s delayed granting of access to the exclusive ice hockey broadcasting rights as an unlawful refusal to do business under Article 7(2)(a) of the Cartel Act. From its perspective, a basic offer of Swiss ice hockey broadcasts was objectively necessary during the investigation period to compete effectively in the TV platform market. Justifications (so-called «Legitimate Business Reasons»), including the claimed protection of investments, were not recognized. The appeal was therefore fully rejected.
Assessment
With this ruling, the BGer (link in German only) confirms its case law on the exploitation of exclusive rights, following the precedent set by Sport in Pay-TV. It underscores the importance of exclusive content for TV offerings.
This BGer (link in German only) case law potentially affects all holders of exclusive broadcasting rights where such content could be decisive for end consumers in choosing a TV platform. While the Sport in Pay-TV and Ice Hockey in Pay-TV rulings specifically concern sports content, this practice may also apply to other types of content (e.g., live shows, series, films, etc.).
Rights holders are therefore expected to provide their exclusive content in a non-discriminatory and timely manner (e.g., via sublicenses). A prior or timely review of licensing practices is recommended.
The ruling is available here (in German only).
CORE Attorneys is a boutique law firm in Switzerland, focusing on competition/antitrust law, regulatory and distribution law matters. Visit our News & Insights and follow us on LinkedIn for regular updates on all our focus areas.