Round three for Dutch football

The Dutch premier league football clubs have not been able to secure television contracts for the next three seasons. Following two rounds of bidding, the clubs, associated in the Eredivisie, have now once again invited broadcasters to further talks. When the Eredivisie opened the tender, it not only offered various packages but also posed a number of demands. These included (free) access to commercial airtime for their sponsors, a ban on showing highlights before 8pm on Sundays and more editorial control. These demands were unacceptable to the broadcasters. Also, the clubs expected to raise at least €100 million per season, but current bids add up to about half this amount. For highlights, NOS has made the highest bid of around €12 million but on condition that it can start showing highlights from 7pm on Sundays. With regards to the premium rights to live coverage, there is also no clear winner and indeed bids that are much lower than the clubs had expected. If they don’t award the live rights to a broadcaster or platform, the clubs said they will launch their own Eredivisie channel and offer this to all platforms for distribution.