The Team Marketing agency, acting on behalf of Uefa, had not been overly optimistic about maintaining value in the Netherlands anyway – John De Mol’s aggressive entry into the market had created near-perfect competitive conditions last time. But Team’s cause was not helped by its sales process overlapping with Uefa’s tendering of Euro 2012 rights.
Both Team and Uefa made presentations to broadcasters in the same week and the concurrent sales will not help drive competition on either property. As one local executive said: “Which commercial broadcaster, in the current climate, is going to make not one but two big gambles on expensive football rights at the same time?”
The overlapping processes would appear to play into the hands of public-service broadcaster NOS, the main incumbent for both properties. With two-thirds of its funding guaranteed by the public, it is much better insulated than either of the major commercial operators, RTL and SBS.
The existing Champions League deal is worth €38 million a year, of which NOS pays €30 million for the top two matches each week and Sport1 €8 million for the rest.
Eredivisie Live, the pay-channel launched by Dutch football’s top-tier clubs, is a possible challenger for the pay-television rights, after saying that it did not rule out bidding for other national and international football rights, such as the KNVB Cup and the Champions League.