The battle for the viewer will soon be decided. Will you be watching via Viaplay or Ziggo?
Finally, the soap opera regarding Formula 1 broadcasting rights seems to be coming to an end. Today, this battle for the viewer is more exciting than ever. In any case, it is much more exciting than the battle on the track.
The only question now is which horse you should bet on: Viaplay, Ziggo or another party? Finally, the endless battle seems to be coming to an end. The intention is that within a few weeks it will be clear who will be allowed to broadcast the popular sport in the Netherlands from 2025. The tender procedure starts tomorrow (January 30).
As you know, Viaplay is struggling and Ziggo is aiming for a comeback. These are therefore the two favorites for the broadcasting rights from next year. Ziggo had the broadcast rights to F1 for ten years, but since 2022 it has been Viaplay that has owned the rights in the Netherlands. This is the last season for them and everything is still open for 2025.
Viaplay or Ziggo?
But who will it be? To the Financial Daily sports marketer Chris Woerts says that it will probably remain Viaplay. The Swedish store recently received a financial injection from Canal+ and PPF (an investment company from the Czech Republic).
We understand Woerts' choice (he drives a Porsche Taycan). Viaplay has much less competition this year from F1TV (which has become considerably more expensive) and you also get F1TV with your Viaplay subscription. This is for the Dutch market, where Viaplay has always done well (in financial terms, after all, they have Tom Coronel as an objective analyst).
Another sports marketer – Daan van den Wall Bake – thinks completely differently than Woerts. He predicts that Ziggo is keen to acquire the rights again. Then Ziggo suddenly becomes the largest sports provider in the Netherlands.
American providers?
But is that all? well, not quite. As far as we know, there are no other Dutch candidates. So John de Mol is not going to burn his fingers on this, even though René van der Gijp and Johan Derksen also know about pushrod suspension, kinetic energy storage and racing strategies.
No, it appears that there is indeed interest from the United States. Rumors have been swirling for some time that Apple has released no less than 2 billion euros – in due course – to acquire the rights. Netflix and Amazon will also be present at the negotiations.
It is not yet known when the outcome will be announced. But it is expected that a winner will emerge within a few weeks. Of course we will keep you informed!
This article Will you be watching F1 via Ziggo, Viaplay or…? first appeared on Autoblog.nl.
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