Billion $$ for Dutch Eredivisie!!

While the maligned Dutch hockey men are giving the Brits a severe beating at the Olympics ( 9-2, well done!) I am writing this post on what might well be a turning point in Dutch football.

The big news, only days before the Eredivisie starts, is not about a transfer or Louis van Gaal or about Feyenoord missing out on the CL. It’s about a multibillion dollar man from Australia putting his money where his mouth is. And sadly, this guy isn’t me. (yet)

Through my football contacts in Holland I was aware something was brewing, but since yesterday we know it’s about former Aussie Rupert Murdoch’s Fox network who pay 1 Billion euros for the right to broadcast the Eredivisie for the next 12 seasons.

Keith Rupert Murdoch (81) is seen as one of the most influential media tycoon on the planet. He is currently the number 106 on the Forbes list of most wealthy people on the planet and he’s the major sharegolder of News Corporation. The media tycoon was born in Melbourne but became a US citizen in 1985.

Murdoch made a name for himself in Australia first and become a global name when he bought the infamous News of the World and later on The Sun and The Times.

In 1985 he acquired the Twentieth Century Fox film studio and this deal forced him to become a US citizen. Fox is currently one of the biggest tv networks and BSkyB is also part of the Fox family.

His image got a dent last year/this year when it was made known that reporters of his News of the World hacked into computers to obtain private records and to manipulate the news in order to sell more advertising and editions.

Murdoch now acquired the Eredivisie Live channel and will expand this – most likely – into an American-type show with entertainment and all.

Murdoch will have the rights to live and high light footage but as he did in other countries, he will most likely make the time gap between both broadcast wider (time-slicing) in order to force more people to get a subscription to the live games. The highlights will also be seen on the free-to-air network, as decreed by the Dutch government.

Currently, the high lights are with the NOS ( Studio Sport) but the NOS CEO already spoke of a media revolution and admitted it will be tough for the NOS to hang on to the rights for high lights.

Jan de Jong, NOS CEO: “It’s like someone bought Rembrand’s De Nachtwacht and will take it out of the Rijksmuseum, where you can see it for free, and who will show it now in his private collection for a hefty fee. We do like to show the high lights of course, but we can not compete with Murdoch and we don’t want to.”

Dutch sports marketing guru Frank van den Wall Bake: “Murdoch will most likely use this sports channel to add more sports. In terms of pay tv, Holland is a toddler. The consumer will be happy to pay more for great broadcasts. The 7 pm high lights will most likely shift to 9 pm. If you pay a bit more, you can get the live games, plus a juice game at 6 pm and the high lights at 9 pm. I don’t think this will result in too much commotion.”


Most sports experts in Holland see this deal as the saviour for Dutch football. Media expert Anton Lippold comments on the unexpected deal: “The competitive position of the big clubs will become much stronger. Finally, tv income will make a huge jump and the clubs will be enabled to compete better. Murdoch has big plans for Dutch sports and it won’t stop with football. Fox wants to own most international football competitions and believes the Dutch competition is really interesting in quality for the viewer.”

As an example, today Ajax receives 3 Mio euro tv money every season, in the new situation, clubs like Ajax will get close to 8 or 9 million euro.

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45 comments

  1. that is really awesome news. Who needs Benelux league now? LOL … I hope this gets 100% confirmed and signed. This money guarantees player development and sure one or two WC finals the next few years…

    Anyhow, guys what time is the friendly with Belgium? I need to make a “meeting” to make sure nobody will bother me watching it ? I am in Los Angeles. Can someone kindly provide the time info ?

  2. I already commented on this deal in the previous thread. Positives from this deal seems to be more money for the clubs. On the flip side, the viewer has to fork out more cash. I guess it comes down to how much more viewers have to pay out and what sort of improvement the clubs will have financially and on the field. Time will tell.

    BEL vs NED
    Wed Aug 15th
    2:45PM EST

  3. Here’s the Holland team against Belgium – couple of surprises;
    Keepers: Tim Krul (Newcastle United), Maarten Stekelenburg (AS Roma), Michel Vorm (Swansea City).

    Defenders: Bruno Martins Indi (Feyenoord), John Heitinga (Everton), Joris Mathijsen (Málaga CF), Ricardo van Rhijn (Ajax), Nick Viergever (AZ), Stefan de Vrij (Feyenoord), Jetro Willems (PSV).

    Midfield: Ibrahim Afellay (Barcelona), Urby Emanuelson (AC Milan), Nigel de Jong (Manchester City), Adam Maher (AZ), Wesley Sneijder (Inter), Kevin Strootman (PSV), Rafael van der Vaart (Tottenham Hotspur).

    Forwards: Bas Dost (VfL Wolfsburg), Klaas Jan Huntelaar (Schalke 04), Dirk Kuyt (Fenerbahçe), Jeremain Lens (PSV), Luciano Narsingh (PSV), Robin van Persie (Arsenal), Arjen Robben (Bayern München).

  4. I hope Van der Wiel is injured or something because I don’t see the point of excluding him and those who (somewhat) degrade him in this forum.
    He is 24 years old, still has a future in front of him (wanted by Chelsea and others). If he were a mediocre player I wouldn’t defend him but he is not. He is being treated unfairly lately, Ajax offering him to other clubs and being unwanted. If his had an attitude then that’s fixable at his age but killing his future is unacceptable.
    The Cristiano goal and his performance at EC ’12, that goal could have happened to anybody with that shitty defense. And playing in front of Robben (who thinks his god) is always tricky.
    The Robbens and Van Persies better show what they’re worth, because if not they are just a bunch of star player clubs

    1. VdW is out of form. thats why he didn’t play agains PSV.

      I think he will be called later.

      I wil be miss Clasie on this team. But I think he will find his spot soon

    2. >If his had an attitude then

      ok, since I made the comment here is the justification, right or wrong. Wiel has superb talent, he could play in any team technically. But he has 0 power of will. Grit is not a word in his dictionary. Can you correct this? No in my opinion. You can not instill “I f want it” attitude in people. Mathijsen knows 1/10th of the soccer that Wiel knows but he can eliminate David Villa simply because he will leave every drop of his sweat for the Oranje.

      Sorry, IMO, time to move on in the RB position.

      1. Your entitled to an opinion but look, grit is hard to quantify. It leans more towards perception than real stats, maybe VdW is soft on marking but that can be fixed with good mentoring. I know I’m pushing the age factor a bit too far but I think he can improve cause time is on his side.
        Maybe you have opinions about other players, but all the others were lacking sheer determination as well.
        Ok, I accept that he may lack form #eduardo. But lets not get too carried away about disposing Wiel so quickly, if that is the only premise than all the so called world class players should be out cause they were even more disappointing. I am excited too about van Rhijn, but like Jetro, he needs time in adjusting. I close by saying that VdW is Dutch material with some mentoring so he losses his rapping or fashion ambitions a bit…

  5. this is a friendly…clasie, luuk de jong, and Ola should have all been tested at the expense of kuyt/hunter, robben and vaart… this is getting ridiculous

    1. yes, but it is the first friendly with the new couch. Clean slate. Guess he wants to see up close and personal what they all have to offer young and old. Don’t worry. LVG is not one for nepotism. If the elderly are not delivering, he will not romance them but quickly dispose of them for younger talent.

    2. as long as the money is used to strengthen the teams this development will be fantastic.

      if, however, it is diverted into the pockets of the already rich, it will make not a blind bit of difference.

  6. @Gio Vanerweil is chased by many bigclubs 1.5 year before.that is a past history.None of the big teams were convinced with him and they were right.he is not a world class RB but a decent RB.so he cannt play for bigteams.i hope he proves me wrong…
    I am pretty content with LVG selection happy to see luuk dejong,vlaar gets out,but i dont know about dost..let us see
    hats off to vaal for Bruno martins indi….but why kuyt and joris???may be their attitude would have pleased him..

    1. I said nothing about him being worldclass, I mean’t that he still has a future in front of him and being treated unfairly. You don’t need to be a class act at 24 but you have to have the right skills and opportunities (I’ll repeat that) opportunity. He is definitely better than Arbeloa. Killing him now is not a wise thing to do and unjust. If one can give Heitinga and Matjiesen another chance, why not a Van der Wiel

  7. Any indicator of whether he will continue playing 4-2-3-1 or, more important to my way of thinking, whether he intends Robben on left or right? If he puts Robben on left and Narsingh on the right, you have a pretty good chance of stretching and opening the defenses; if he plays on the right (and it was Louis who installed him there at Bayern, we’re back to predictability and congestion in the middle.

    re: RB. Looks like its Van Rhijn’s spot. Hope to see some of the younger guys debut in the middle. Martins Indi/Willems on the left.

  8. Of course Wiel has a future but it was a good choice not to call him. He has been out of form for some time and it’s about time someone make him realize that his spot is not guaranteed.

  9. LVG wants to evaluate personally what happened in EC 2012 by having almost all the players from that tournament together. I guess he wants to see if there are group of players, rivalries, etc.

    From the list there are several new players in our defense so I am pleased because the first step must be to better our defense:

    Bruno Martins Indi, Ricardo van Rhijn, Nick Viergever, Stefan de Vrij.

  10. finally something done right,

    tired of hearing about this benelux league, it would never work, and if it did work, others would copy and we still get the same problems.

    we now got the foreign capital we need. now it’s up to the dutch clubs to use the money wiser and start winning the europa league and making knockout rounds of champions league

  11. BVM failed
    playing persie as striker
    playing afaleey as left winger instaed persie.
    playing static bommel
    joris to guard muller,cr7,nani etc
    18 year williams…over some other better lbs
    biased team slection.
    completely blind to the inform players.
    you cannt expect joris to stop 33 m/h cr7.and nani..

    1. 33mph?
      are you handicapped in the head?

      usain bolt runs at 28 mph – moron!

      stop posting random rants as facts.

      provide evidence to support your claims, or GTFO.

      1. With all due to respect, although Tiju is a bit hard headed, I actually agree with what he wrote. Van Persie wasn’t effective as lone striker, and Mathijsen to guard top quality strikers…the 33MPH is exaggerated, but you get his point. Why so much animosity?

  12. @Andrew,
    thanks for the info on ESPN Deportes. ESPN3 is also showing it online.

    Clasie should have been included here. Especially with Van Bommel out, he should get a chance at least in the second half to show a bit of himself in the Oranje setup.

    Where is Van Wolfswinkel? I really don’t understand why he’s getting overlooked every time? I know LVG has picked RVP, Hunter, LDJ etc but just getting the call up is a big deal even if he doesn’t play a single second. It sends a message that the coach is thinking about him. To be honest, I have a feeling that he’ll be most likely to make it as our primary striker in the future than the others once RVP and Hunter leave Oranje.

    Hope VDW will be back. Ronaldo did really make him look bad. I would not rule him out on the basis of one bad tournament. He did fairly well in WC 2010. That’s a great experience at the highest level. I think he needs a very good season at Ajax and move abroad next year. At his current form, Ajax wouldn’t make much money on his transfer and he wouldn’t be moving to any top clubs.

  13. Great news for Eredivisie.

    And maybe me too if this means games may be aired on Canadian stations! Too bad Foxsports Canada packed it in last spring..

  14. I’m wit Bitterballen. Friendly is a good opportunity to test young players like ola john, luuk de jong, clasie. Perhaps LVG think these players are not ready. Pity!

  15. Fantastic news for the Eredivisie – !!

    Now I just pray that the extra cash is wisely used to hold onto and further the development of Netherlands talent, and not simply wasted on bringing in established, big name, foreign stars…because that road leads nowhere for teams, and for the league as a whole.

    It is a great benefit – but must be managed wisely.

    Also a big thanks to Jan — I’m sure Rupert must be reading the blog daily…you’ve done good work mate!

    🙂

    OJF

    1. Thnx Ferenc, here in México we are extremely happy for this gold in Olympic football. All I can soy is test México has a great generation for te future and in the next WC this team can be a big revelation!

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