The 18 clubs in the Eredivisie, the Netherlands’ top football division, have reached an agreement on the distribution of the media-rights fees for the 2019-20 season.
Domestic broadcast money in the Netherlands is distributed based on league placement over the course of the past ten seasons, with the most recent carrying the most weight. However, with the early curtailment of the 2019-20 campaign, there was some debate over how the funds should be divided.
In the end, the clubs unanimously agreed that the final standings would be included in the calculation, despite the Dutch FA (KNVB) having officially declared the season null and void, with no title awarded and no promotion or relegation.
The league’s current domestic deal, with Fox Sports, is worth an average of €80m ($90m/£71m) per season between 2013 and 2025. In April, it was reported that Fox had agreed to pay the final tranche of €22m for the 2019-20 season, meaning clubs should see the majority of the money they had expected.
Meanwhile, the top four teams in the Eredivisie – Ajax, AZ Alkmaar, Feyenoord, and PSV Eindhoven – have finalised their contributions to the solidarity fund that was set up to offer support to financially struggling clubs.
Ajax, the Netherlands’ richest club by a considerable distance, will pay €3m into the fund, with the other three each contributing €500,000. That €4.5m will be added to the €4.2m from Uefa, €5m from the KNVB, €5m from Dutch financial services firm ING and €1m from the players of the Dutch men’s national football team. This will create a total relief fund of almost €20m to offer aid to Dutch clubs that have been hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.