De Siervo on Geo-blocking: Happy to Exclude Sporting Events

Luigi De Siervo, the Chief Executive Officer of Italy’s Serie A, has commented on the European Parliament’s decision not to remove geo-blocking.

De Siervo stated, “We welcome the outcome of today’s plenary session of the European Parliament, which has rejected the request to the Commission to present a review of the regulation on geo-blocking by 2025 that would have included sports and film content.”

The European Parliament also acknowledged that there would be a rise in prices for consumers and a significant reduction in investments if audio-visual services were included in a cancellation of geo-blocking. De Siervo continued to elaborate on this point.

Finally, De Siervo emphasized the European Parliament’s recognition of the importance of preserving geo-blocking for copyright-protected products. He stated that it is one of the main tools for ensuring cultural diversity. Without it, there would be a risk of reducing the number of content distribution channels.