The bids for the right to Dutch Eredivisie (premiere league) football are believed to be much lower than expected by the clubs, according to sources familiar to the situation. However, the Eredivisie company are keeping their lips sealed. The Public broadcaster NOS is believed to haver bid €10 million per season for the right to transmit weekly highlights; at the moment this contract is worth €30 million and in the hands of RTL, who acquired the rights after buying John de Mol’s Talpa/Tien channel. RTL has probably also made a bid to keep the rights, but it will be far below the current price. SBS has said it did not take part. Four parties – Tele2 (who now owns the contract), KPN, Chellomedia (for Sport1) and Zesko Holding (cable operators Casem, @Home and Multikabel) in cooperation with DTH platform Canal Digitaal – have submitted bids for the rights. However, they are also below the €70 million per season they were expected to fetch.
About Robert Briel
Arnhem-based Robert covers the Benelux, France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland as well as IPTV, web TV, connected TV and OTT. Email Robert at rbriel@broadbandtvnews.com.