Commercial director of Ajax Menno Geelen and general manager of AZ Robert Eenhoorn will from now on join the negotiations with ESPN, reports Football International. They will assist Jan de Jong, director of the Eredivisie CV, during the talks about the broadcasting rights. This idea was put forward on behalf of AZ by director Alex Kroes last Monday. The clubs have subsequently agreed to this.
On Monday, the vote on the decision on the television rights of the Eredivisie was also postponed. The Eredivisie clubs are not satisfied with the ESPN / Disney deal and have postponed a final decision to June 5. The clubs have Football International the feeling that De Jong is ‘too close’ to Disney, the party that owns ESPN. They are reportedly convinced that there is more to be gained from the deal and got the idea that the deal with the American sports channel was pushed through too much.
It is not expected that ESPN will offer much more, but that clubs can earn more money from this TV rights deal in another way. The clubs also have their doubts about extending De Jong’s contract. On Monday it was announced that the director will remain connected to the Eredivisie CV for longer. This decision was taken unanimously at the shareholders’ meeting. An extension of three years has now been chosen, ‘but with a clear exit clause after one year’. “After the broadcasting rights deal has been completed, the clubs can therefore get rid of De Jong, if deemed necessary,” writes VI.
Currently, the bid of the current rights holder ESPN/Disney is 170 million euros (annually) for the period from 2025 to 2035. The clubs believe the proposed contract term is too long and also want to see a higher amount. The top clubs in particular are dissatisfied with the current negotiation result. Ajax has already made a hard demand. The team from Amsterdam wants all matches in the Kitchen Champion Division and women’s competition to be broadcast live on television or online.
It was previously announced that a consortium of cable companies is willing to pay a higher price for the Eredivisie rights. KPN, VodafoneZiggo, T-Mobile and DELTA would have submitted a joint offer whereby the Eredivisie would receive a guaranteed annual amount of 180 million euros for the live television rights. Whether the clubs would be satisfied with such an offer is unknown.