Belgian pay-television broadcaster Telenet has confirmed it plans to launch a new channel dedicated to the Pro League in partnership with the top division of Belgian football.
“We confirm the plan to establish a joint venture with the Pro League for live coverage of the Belgian top division,” Telenet’s senior vice-president of residential marketing, Inge Smidts, said.
Smidts said that other broadcasters would be able to acquire non-exclusive rights to the games shown on the channel, and a tender would be held for the rights to Pro League highlights. She added that the proposed deal would provide greater “financial stability” for the league’s clubs and suggested that they would benefit from a profit-sharing arrangement on top of the rights fee.
According to a report yesterday (Monday) by Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws, Telenet has tabled a €900m ($1.22bn) bid for the rights to the Pro League over 12 years, from 2014-15 to 2025-26. The report said that the deal would represent a defensive move by Telenet against the Fox International Channels (FIC) broadcast subsidiary of media company 21st Century Fox entering the Belgian market. In 2012, FIC made a surprise entry into the Netherlands with a 12-year deal for the domestic football league, the Eredivisie, spanning 2013-14 to 2024-25.
Telenet currently has the rights for Pro League matches in a three-year deal, from 2011-12 to 2013-14. Its rights for Saturday afternoon matches are held on a non-exclusive basis along with pay-television rival Belgacom.
Any new deal still has to be approved by the Pro League’s clubs and the Belgian competition authorities.