Proximus to seal Pro League deal, barring ‘catastrophe’

Belgian pay-television broadcaster Proximus has said it expects to seal a rights deal for the Pro League, the top division of domestic football, within weeks, adding that an agreement will be reached barring an “improbable catastrophe”.

Proximus’ pay-television rivals Telenet and Voo were last week awarded live rights for the Pro League. The MP & Silva agency handled the rights-sales process, which covered the three seasons from 2017-18 to 2019-20 in Belgium and Luxembourg.

The broadcasters were awarded non-exclusive rights (lot one) for live television coverage, with Telenet having rights in Dutch and Voo having rights in French for three seasons. Telenet was also awarded lot two – exclusive rights in Dutch and French for live coverage on internet and mobile platforms.

The rights for lot three – live coverage of the Super Cup – were acquired exclusively for pay-television platforms by Telenet in Dutch and French, and for free-to-air television by local public-service broadcaster RTBF in French.

Lot four, featuring in-game delayed coverage and clips, was acquired on a non-exclusive basis in French by Voo and RTBF, and on a non-exclusive basis in Dutch by public-service broadcaster VRT.

The weekend free-to-air highlights included in lot five were acquired on a non-exclusive basis by Telenet in Dutch and RTBF in French. Telenet will offer the highlights via free-to-air channel Vier.

Proximus is an existing Pro League rights-holder and has reportedly already submitted one offer, which was rejected. Proximus chief executive Dominique Leroy has sought to dampen fears that the broadcaster will lose its coverage by stating that it is still negotiating for the best possible deal.

Asked whether there is a chance Proximus will not broadcast the Pro League from 2017-18, she told Belgian newspaper La Dernière Heure: “No, except for an improbable catastrophe the agreement is imminent. We speak of days, at most of weeks.”

Leroy added: “Proximus’ intention is to continue to broadcast Belgian football. We are aware that the price of this product has increased, given that MP & Silva has guaranteed the Pro League an amount of €80m ($87.3m per season).

“Our ambition is to keep an appealing Belgian football product for our customers. We have been selling it so far at less than €10 a month, and our goal is to make the increase as low as possible. This is the reason why we are still negotiating.”