Dutch football channel disappoints

By Robert Briel | June 5, 2009

Even though the Dutch football channel Eredivisie Live has 350,000 subscribers, its financial results are not sufficient to pay the clubs a promised €60 million dividend.

According to a report in the Financieel Dagblad, the club has to get an additional loan of €15 million from the Royal Bank of Scotland in order to pay the clubs.

With just 350,000 paying subscribers, the income is not sufficient to make ends meets, let alone pay a dividend to the clubs. The total number of subscribers has to rise by another 200,000 in order to have a valid business case.

When the channel was launched by the Dutch football association KNVB and the clubs themselves, hopes were high and a total number of 800,000 subscribers was expected.

Insiders believe this number can never be achieved on the Dutch pay-TV market, with the highest ever number reached being 400,000 homes.