Sweden-based NENT is coming with its Viaplay streaming service to shake up the streaming and sports rights markets in the Netherlands. NENT has struck a big blow by purchasing the live broadcast rights of Formula 1, the Bundesliga and PDC darts. For the Dutch market, this is comparable to the entrance of Fox (now ESPN) in 2013 when it purchased the live rights to the top Dutch football league Eredivisie. At the same time, Viaplay is causing commotion on the Dutch streaming market where Netflix, homegrown Videoland and Disney+ are currently on top.
Viaplay’s Dutch entrance is part of NENT’s strategy, unveiled at last year’s capital markets day, to expand its streaming service to 10 new markets to reach 4.5 million customers in 2025. The Dutch launch is part of the five markets planned to start in 2022/23.
Live sports rights: what will VodafoneZiggo do with Ziggo Sport without F1?
In a confirmation that it has lost the F1 rights, Ziggo said it thinks the price became too high to continue bidding. This implies that VodafoneZiggo is not willing to pay any price to keep its existing live sport rights for its Ziggo Sport channel and premium Ziggo Sport Totaal package. In addition to F1, Ziggo has the (exclusive) rights to broadcast Champions League matches (recently extended), the English Premier League, Spain's La Liga and the Italian Serie A as well as separate channels for golf, tennis and car racing including Indycar and Nascar. With the new kid on the block (Viaplay) and two existing sport broadcasters with large corporate parents ESPN (Disney) and Eurosport (Discovery), the expectation is that the prices to keep existing TV rights will go up.This leads to the question whether VodafoneZiggo is willing to pay more money to keep its Ziggo Sport channel as an exclusive feature for its TV customers. It could follow the road of Eir that announced the shut down of its Eir Sport operations at the end of 2021 when the rights run out, citing lower revenues due to the covid-19 pandemic. Or it could look into BT’s choice: finding a co-investor for Ziggo Sport to increase the financial power to acquire/extend broadcasting rights.
Streaming: Viaplay enters a grown-up market, with unique traits
NENT uses its existing Viaplay streaming platform to enter the Dutch market to broadcast the Formula 1 races, Bundesliga and PDC darts matches. Earlier this year Viaplay was launched in the Baltics including a similar live sport offering plus movies and series including Viaplay Originals for EUR 9.99 a month. NENT CEO Anders Jensen said to analysts that the price for live sport rights in the Netherlands were not so bad compared with their experience in Nordic countries, where Viaplay including sport is offered for 3 to 4 times higher monthly fees.Viaplay enters a Dutch streaming market ruled by Netflix, followed by home-grown providers Videoland (SVOD) and Pathe Thuis (TVOD). Other international players like Disney+, Amazon Prime Video and Discovery+, as well as NLZiet (similar to Hulu live) and NPO Start Plus (SVOD service offered by Dutch pubcaster) are making their mark as well. Viaplay enters with a clear long-term strategy as the Formula 1 rights run for three years and the Bundesliga rights even for nine years. Furthermore, it has the ambition to try to produce between 5 and 10 Dutch Viaplay Original series.
Choosing sport as a unique trait enables Viaplay to distinguish itself from existing streaming offers, especially if it is able to bind the fans of local heroes Max Verstappen (Formula 1) and Michael van Gerwen (darts) to its new service. With the focus on existing Viaplay Originals and the development of Dutch original services it could be a viable addition to the Dutch streaming market.
