By Samindra Kunti
March 12 – The Belgian Jupiler Pro League may team up with MP & Silva and Screen Capital International to create its own private TV channel.
Italian-owned MP & Silva is an international TV distribution specialist and holds rights for a number of Europe’s football leagues. The €606 million turnover company recently announced it will distribute the NFL rights in Europe across 42 territories in the next five years in a deal worth €46.5 million.
MP & Silva holds the rights of the Jupiler Pro League, the Belgian top-flight which were sold to broadcasster Sporting Telenet and Proximus TV. The distributor lost money on the deal as it had paid €70 million for the rights, but only generated about €65 million in revenue for the 2014/15 season.
MP & Silva has subsequently rekindled the proposal that the Jupiler Pro League should have its own TV channel.
MP & Silva informed the Jupiler Pro League clubs of its ambitions and introduced them to Screen Capital International, a prospective investor from the United States. The Beverly Hills based company is said to be willing to invest millions, but the exact amount is undisclosed.
Until now the clubs have been rather reluctant to create their own TV channel as there would be no guaranteed income, in comparison to straight rights sale. The Dutch top-flight ran a similar initiative ‘Eredivisie Live’ a couple of years ago, but the pilot project fizzled out. In 2012 Rupert Murdoch’s Fox International acquired the rights to broadcast the Eredivisie, paying about €1 billion for a 12-year deal.
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