Dutch government minister Sander Dekker has said that public-service broadcaster NOS should disclose how much it spends on sports-rights deals.
Dekker, the minister of education, culture and science, responding to a question from fellow MP Ton Elias in parliament, said that he would speak to NOS about providing greater transparency for future rights deals.
In March, NOS renewed a domestic rights deal for highlights of the Eredivisie, the top division of football in the Netherlands, for three seasons, from 2014-15 to 2016-17, but the rights fee was not disclosed.
“Such secrecy provisions are understandable from the perspective of the selling party,” Dekker said. “However, they do not serve the public interest since they do not contribute to transparency in the spending of public funds. For future bidding procedures, I think transparency is essential.”
NOS director Jan de Jong told Radio 1: “NOS is transparent. We have nothing to hide. NOS costs Dutch citizens €1.47 ($2) per month, and €0.60 of that is for sport.”