Dutch telcos give up on Eredivisie-Disney deal complaint but keep offer open

Photo by Henk Jan Dijks (Source: Alamy.com)

The Dutch telecom consortium attempting to wrest Eredivisie football rights from Disney has given up on its complaint to the country’s markets watchdog after the latter issued a preliminary ruling that it saw no competition issue with the Disney deal.

The telcos – KPN, VodafoneZiggo, Delta Fiber and Odido – nevertheless called on the Eredivisie football clubs to think again, maintaining that their own proposal offered better value.

The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) said it has shared a preliminary opinion that it saw “no reason to regard the agreement between Eredivisie CV (ECV) and EMM (Disney) as contrary to competition rules” and that, as the consortium had withdrawn the complaint, there was no need to reach a final decision.

Disney secured the rights to broadcast Eredivisie matches on its ESPN service until 2025. The telcos argued that the football rights should have been offered through a public tender procedure and not through a renegotiation.

The consortium said it had not lodged an appeal because the duration of a legal process could harm the interest of the clubs and because any legal outcome would come too late to make a difference.

Door still open

VodafoneZiggo said that the consortium was “very disappointed” by the ACM’s opinion, which it said was not consistent with European and Dutch competition law or in line with practice in all major European football countries, where football rights are sold through a public bidding procedure.

It said the “door is still open” for the clubs to think again and that its bid remained active. The consortium maintains that the Eredivisie organization, the ECV, has made incorrect claims about hidden costs associated with its offer, and that going with it rather than Disney would benefit the clubs to the tune of an additional €100 million over five years.

“We want to sit at the table with ECV and the clubs, but so far we have not been offered a seat, even though ECV claims so. Negotiating with multiple bidding parties only increases the chance of a good deal for the clubs and that is in the interest of Dutch football as a whole,” said a spokesperson for the consortium.