Four of Britain’s largest sports broadcasters have been fined more than £4 million for colluding on freelance pay rates, the UK’s competition regulator announced on Friday.
BT, IMG, ITV and the BBC will pay a combined total of £4.24 million in fines after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found they had shared sensitive information about fees paid to freelance workers, including camera operators and sound technicians.
Sky, another major player in sports broadcasting, also admitted to breaking the law but escaped a fine after proactively alerting the CMA to its involvement before the formal investigation began.
The five firms involved often engaged freelancers to assist the production and broadcast of sports content including major football matches and rugby tournaments.
The CMA said it found 15 instances where a pair of companies would illegally share information about pay, including on day rates and pay increases.
It said this was done so that the companies could coordinate how much to pay freelancers.
In one example, one of the companies told another they have “no intention of getting into a bidding war” but “want to be aligned and benchmark the rates”, according to the investigation.
Juliette Enser, executive director for competition enforcement at the CMA, said: “Millions watch sports on TV each day, with production teams working behind the scenes to make this possible – and it is only right they are paid fairly.
“Companies should set rates independently of each other so pay is competitive – not doing so could leave workers out of pocket.
“Employers must ensure those who hire staff know the rules and stick to them to prevent this happening in the future.”
Separately, on Friday the regulator also closed an investigation into non-sports TV production and broadcasting.
It said BBC, Hartswood Films, Hat Trick Productions, ITV, Red Planet Pictures, Sister Pictures and Tiger Aspect Productions were all under investigation.
