Competition | UK Regulatory Outlook September 2025

Premier League and Manchester City settle APT sponsorship dispute 

The Premier League and Manchester City have settled the club’s arbitration challenge to the league’s Associated Party Transaction (APT) Rules. Manchester City had alleged that the APT rules are unfairly discriminatory, anti-competitive and represent a "tyranny of the majority". 

The proceedings have been terminated, with Manchester City confirming that the current APT rules are valid and binding. APT rules govern sponsorships and other commercial deals with entities linked to club owners or related parties, aiming to ensure fair market valuation and prevent competitive distortion via inflated revenues.  

The settlement preserves the APT framework as‑is, providing short‑term regulatory certainty for clubs and sponsors around valuation standards, disclosure expectations and approval processes for related‑party deals. It also avoids the risk of a precedent that might have constrained the league’s rule‑making in this area. For clubs with current or planned associated‑party arrangements, this stabilises the compliance baseline heading into the next commercial cycle, including renewals and new category deals.

European Commission accepts commitments offered by Microsoft relating to Microsoft Teams 

The European Commission has closed its antitrust probe into Microsoft’s bundling of Teams with Office after accepting Microsoft's commitments package. Under the agreed commitments, Microsoft will make its suite of applications (including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook) available without Teams and at a reduced price. 

The Commission has made no finding of infringement or dominance and there has been no admission of liability by Microsoft; the settlement means there will be no definitive ruling on the legality of the original bundling.  

The package signals the EU’s appetite to use unbundling, price constraints and interoperability commitments to shape competition quickly, even without formal infringement findings.