A comment that you would normally overlook and listen to may seem important: Olav Mol and Jack Plooij responsible for F1 commentary again?
The arrival of Viaplay in the Netherlands still divides opinions. Because Ziggo lost the rights to F1 in the Netherlands, Viaplay was suddenly allowed to make the choices regarding broadcasts and commentary. Step one: the now commentary phenomenon Olav Mol no longer participated and his companion Jack Plooij also had to look for other work. Instead, commentary from two new names from racing. You can always say 'give them some time', but we passed that stage two years later. Whether it is the human tendency to be resistant to change or whether Olav Mol has simply profiled himself as a Dutch Clarkson in terms of his indispensability in such a program: who knows.
Ziggo
However, that much is clear that things are going wrong at Viaplay. In fact, another 'rights war' is looming. There are rumors that Viaplay will lose the rights to F1 because Ziggo wants them back. That is not the only name mentioned, but it is one of the largest and most important players, at least in the Netherlands. And since Ziggo now knows how much the fish is paid for, the amounts could well be large.
Jack Plooij slip of the tongue?
So there is a chance, but it is really a tiny chance at the moment, that the three years of Viaplay will be undone and F1 will return to what it was before 2022 in terms of broadcasting in the Netherlands. With that knowledge in hand, a comment from Jack Plooij during Ziggo Race Café suddenly becomes juicy. Plooij explains the structure of the season from 2025. This is already known information: in order not to have races on Saturdays like this year due to Ramadan, the season will start in 2025 in Australia with winter tests in Barcelona. And what does Plooij say about Melbourne? “It's great that we can go there again as the first race.” Note the word 'we', sitting next to Olav Mol in Ziggo's Race Café. Break?!
The image is reinforced by Rob Kamphues who laughs with a somewhat panicky undertone and talks about withdrawing the droppings. As if he's trying to cover up the slip of the tongue. Double breaking?!
Surprise
This may therefore be a case of talking too much, but we must of course add the caveat that it is also a bit too easy to think about. With 'we are there', Plooij can also imply that he and Olav are there as two friends or as reporters for the Ziggo Café, not in the role of commentators. It is mainly Kamphues with his somewhat strange reaction that raises questions. So take a grain of salt and wait for the negotiations before canceling Viaplay and becoming a Ziggo customer again. Speaking of which: Ziggo has already won the Champions League for next year. So they are either working on a mega deal in terms of sports in the Netherlands or they have run out of money and they have to hand over F1 to someone who can offer more money.
This article BREAK: Olav Mol and Jack Plooij back as F1 commentators? first appeared on Autoblog.nl.
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