The live rights to all Belgian Jupiler Pro League games have been awarded to all three major TV platforms in the country, Telenet, VOO and Belgacom TV.
The three operators have acquired the non-exclusive rights to the games for the next three seasons, starting with 2014/15. Until now, Telenet owned the exclusive rights for Flanders for its Sporting Telenet channel.
“We are glad that the outcome of this dossier is positive for all football fans,” said Inge Smidts, SVP residential marketing, Telenet.
“Because the rights were granted on a non-exclusive basis, everyone, regardless of his/her operator, is able to enjoy Belgian top flight football. Football will receive more resources over the coming seasons and be watched by more supporters: this is excellent news for the sport and fans alike. But above all, we are very happy to confirm to our Sporting Telenet customers that they will also be able to enjoy all Belgian top flight matches for the next seasons.”
For Belgacom TV, the new agreement means a return of the league to their offer.
“I’m very happy with the Jupiler Pro League Live rights being allocated to several operators, as it enables Belgacom to fulfill her football for everyone ambition and offer its subscribers access to all the matches of Division 1 for the next three seasons,” said Dominique Leroy, CEO Belgacom.
With the new deal in place, Belgacom is expanding its football offering by broadcasting all Division 1 matches, including the top matches and all matches of RSC Anderlecht, Standard and Club Bruges. The operator already holds the rights to the Belgacom League (Division 2), all of the UEFA Champions League, the Spanish and Portuguese first-division matches, the English League Cup and the Spanish Cup.
The highlights of the Jupiler Pro League games have been awarded to pubic broadcaster RTBF for the French speaking part of the country, but a decision about the rights to the Flemish channels still has to be taken. It is believed that the submitted bids were deemed too low. Until now, public broadcaster VRT has these rights.
