IMG and the Eredivisie plan to launch an online streaming platform to showcase matches not taken by international broadcasters and are also looking to include Dutch Cup rights in a wider package.
Under IMG’s new deal to sell the league’s international rights – exclusively reported by SportBusiness last week – the agency and Europe’s sixth-best league by Uefa coefficient are weighing up new ways to maximise fan engagement in core markets.
Thanks to a direct international rights sales agreement instead of the previous deals contracted by the Eredivisie Media & Marketing (EMM) joint venture, IMG and the league plan to roll out the OTT platform next season, the first of IMG’s new five-year term.
It would serve the dual purpose of a marketing tool and streaming home, particularly for content and matches featuring local stars.
Robert Klein, IMG’s managing director, football media, told SportBusiness: “The direct-to-consumer [platform] will have a storytelling and short-form content offering away from the live [matches]. But what’s absolutely crucial is that if there are four matches currently taken by broadcasters then we still want to feed the other matches through the direct-to-consumer platform.
“The ability to have that and service entirely across the league is as important as the initial content and marketing strategy.”
Talks currently being held with the Dutch Football Association (KNVB) also look likely to lead to IMG including the Dutch Cup in its offer to broadcasters or – potentially – matches and content from the knockout clubs competition being streamed on the platform.
The technology would likely be provided by Endeavor Streaming, which already works with Eredivisie club Feyenoord on its OTT service.
Also speaking to SportBusiness at Sportel here in Monaco, Bas Raemakers, the Eredivisie’s head of international commerce and strategy, said that the decision on which matches are streamed would always be based on relevance.
“If there is relevance in a market even where there is a broadcaster showing other matches, then it’s an interesting option,” he explained. “Or it could also be an alternative to a broadcast deal although if we look at the current landscape, we’re quite happy with all the broadcasters in these target markets.
“The main focus is now connecting stronger to the broadcasters and finding a position for this OTT platform in the landscape.”
The Eredivisie currently has 35 television deals spanning 142 countries. Existing broadcasters in core territories include Emtek in Indonesia, Fuji TV and TV Asahi in Japan, StarzPlay in the Middle East and North Africa, and ESPN in Latin America and the USA.
IMG will, according to Klein, negotiate five-year deals for the new cycle “if it’s the right money and broadcaster”.
Workshops with clubs will be held to talk about access to their content and also the prospect of new kick-off times to appeal in certain international windows.
“We’re going to deepen the strategies with the league and the target market conversation becomes a lot more forensic,” said the former head of Bundesliga International.
“IMG has a presence in over 80 markets. We’ve discussed with the league about their and the clubs’ presence through new content formats and bringing the clubs and players into these new target markets. And then having the direct relationship through the digital platform or official broadcaster will allow us to reach a new fan base and develop growth.”
Raemakers, who will become the Eredivisie’s commercial director at the start of 2025, added: “We and the clubs are big enough to have professional production and media teams but the clubs – even the top ones – think it’s better to connect to the league and find a joint effort in certain markets than to go there by themselves.”
In recent cycles, IMG negotiated a succession of deals with EMM, the joint venture co-owned by the league, domestic broadcast rights-holder the Walt Disney Company and the KNVB.
Its current contract includes live rights to 136 matches per season across 34 rounds. This season, IMG provides four live Eredivisie matches per round to international takers. The agency has also typically offered two weekly highlights shows.
The new deal will take IMG’s representation of the international media rights to three decades. However, IMG Arena will no longer distribute betting video streams to bookmakers after Infront Bettor was awarded those rights. The IMG betting arm, now part of Endeavor’s OpenBet, is up for sale and expected to change hands soon.
News of the latest Eredivisie agreement coincided with the move by Endeavor to sell three of its major businesses, including IMG, to TKO, the entity it spun off last year to house WWE and UFC, in a $3.25bn (€3bn) agreement.
Wider Dutch football package
The Dutch Cup international rights are currently sold by Muy Manero, the consultancy run by Fulco van Kooperen, IMG’s former head of football. That deal expires at the end of the 2024-25 season. A total of 45 matches are produced live.
The Eredivisie and IMG have held talks with the KNVB with a view to selling the rights within a wider package of Dutch football to broadcasters from next season onwards.
Raemakers remarked: “It’s not in every country that the FA and league work together closely. That’s also something that developed during the renewal of the domestic broadcast rights.
“Now that we contract with IMG on the media rights, if you want to approach countries like Indonesia, Japan, Mexico or the US then it would be the ideal situation if the [Dutch] Cup rights were in the same agency’s hands. But that’s the final decision of the FA.”
Klein said that there is “some potential” to strike an agreement with the KNVB. Talks may also be held with Dutch clubs to include their home European qualifying matches or exhibition matches played in key international markets.
Asked if IMG would bundle the Eredivisie with rights to other leagues, Klein said that the agency wouldn’t in core markets but could – with the league’s permission – do so in challenging territories without strong viewership.
After taking back control of its rights, the Eredivisie opted for the full support of an agency and has little appetite to join European Leagues’ centralised media rights agreement.
“I think if you get back your rights as a league you should explore everything,” reflected Raemakers.
“We are in a very clear position that we are not big enough to do it ourselves. That was never a serious option. But we’re also in the healthy position that the European Leagues collective was also never an option.”