UPDATE 2-Italy TV soccer rights probed by antitrust body

* Antitrust suspects sale favours pay-TV incumbents

* Soccer league to carry on with sale, bids due Monday

* Rights on 2010/11 worth a minimum of 895.8 mln euros (adds Lega Calcio statement, Sky Italia, Mediaset reactions)

ROME, July 24 (Reuters) - Italy's antitrust authority is investigating the sale of lucrative television rights to soccer matches in the country's top league because it suspects it was packaged to benefit incumbent pay-TV operators and not viewers.

The Serie A league in Italy includes global giants such as Juventus (JUVE.MI), Inter Milan and its city rival AC Milan, owned by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Revenues at clubs are driven mainly by TV rights and matches are watched by millions.

"The low level of competition among pay-TV operators ... could evidently have negative effects on consumers, which could have to pay higher prices in the face of an inferior variety and quality of offer," the antitrust said in a statement on Friday.

The Italian pay-TV market is dominated by satellite operator Sky Italia, a unit of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp (NWSA.O). It is being challenged by Mediaset (MS.MI), Italy's leading private broadcaster, which is also owned by Berlusconi.

Italy's Lega Calcio soccer association, which includes the top Serie A clubs, defended its action in a statement, saying it had stuck to the rules.

"The possibility of a wide participation by all those interested has been safeguarded," it said.

It added that it would go ahead with the sale of the rights, under terms set earlier in July.

The antitrust probe will cover rights for the next two seasons.

On July 10, the Lega Calcio called for tenders on audiovisual rights for the 2010/11 and 2011/12 Serie A seasons. Bids have to be in by Monday at midday local time (1000 GMT).

The Lega Calcio has called for bids on three main packages for live broadcasts of Serie A matches: one for satellite and two offers for digital terrestrial platforms. Three other minor packages are up for sale.

The soccer association aims to raise at least 895.8 million euros ($1.27 billion) from the 2010/11 rights sale and 927 million euros from the following season, according to Reuters calculations based on figures in the tender document.

"We believe that there is just one potential bidder for each of the three licences, so we would exclude auctions pushing prices higher," said Citi analyst Mauro Baragiola in a note on July 10.

Baragiola said he expected Sky Italia to bid for the sole satellite package, priced from 570 million euros for 2010/11, and Mediaset for the main digital terrestrial package which covers matches played by 12 clubs and has a starting price of 210 million euros.

Both Sky Italia and Mediaset had no comment.

The other digital terrestrial package for match broadcasts covers the remaining 8 clubs in Serie A.

Italy's state broadcaster Rai, Telecom Italia Media (TCM.MI) and a couple of other smaller players could be interested in obtaining some TV rights, according to Corriere della Sera newspaper.

(Additional reporting by Danilo Masoni and Antonella Ciancio in Milan; Editing by David Cowell and Gunna Dickson)

($1=.7043 Euro)