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The important theme “What is Sports Law?” was the topic of the international Conference on “The Concept of Lex Sportiva Revisited”, which took place in Jakarta in late 2010. Academics and practitioners are still in debate to agree on this concept as is evident in this book. This book not only contains the worked out contributions of this Conference, but also other related chapters on the subject. It produces a reassessment of the content of Sports Law and its terminology keeping a close eye on the current literature. The book appears in the ASSER International Sports Law Series, under the editorship of Prof. Dr. Robert Siekmann, Dr. Janwillem Soek and Marco van der Harst LL.M.

Previous edition, 1st, published in 1988.

The Sporting Exception in European Union Law is the definitive account of EU sports law. It provides a modern legal framework based on an analysis of major European Court of Justice judgments including Walrave (1974), Don... (1976), Bosman (1995), Deliège (2000), Lehtonen (2000), Kolpak (2003), Piau (2005) and Meca-Medina (2006). It also provides advanced commentary on the major sports-related competition decisions of the European Commission. Broadcasting issues, rules affecting player mobility and issues of sports governance are analysed, as are current issues in EU sports law including the Oulmers case, home-grown players, players' agents, the Services Directive, the Audiovisual Media Services Directive, the 2006 Independent European Sports Review, the 2007 Commission White Paper on Sport, the Reform Treaty and prospects for social dialogue. The work is a resource for academics, lawyers and sports administrators and students of sports law and EU law programmes.

I feel very honoured to have been invited to contribute the Foreword to this book on sports TV rights. It is fair to say, I think, that our lives in the twenty-first century are, in many respects, dominated by the media and sport; and, when combined, they are a very powerful force and mix indeed. It has been well said that sport and the media are, metaphorically speaking, a marriage made in heaven. This book in the now well-established Asser Sports Law Series of Titles, the brainchild of the Director of the prestigious T. M. C. Asser Instituut International Sports Law Centre in The Hague, Dr Robert Siekmann, is most certainly both timely and welcome. I am particularly enthusiastic about the fact that a number of esteemed colleagues who are members of the EMR Media Network have been invited to contribute to this collection. The first part of the book consists of several contributions on the very important European Law aspects of sports broadcasting rights in the digital age as well as TV rights relating to major sports events which are both of particular professional interest to me. Without the commercial exploitation of those rights and the resulting spectacular revenues generated, I may add, many sports events would never see the light of day, much to the disappoi- ment of the general public.