News is going around the soccer world that two European leagues could merge to create a larger one. But why would they do this? What’s the main reason behind Eredivisie and Belgian Pro League merging?
Well, both Dutch and Belgian top-flight leagues make around $70 million per year in TV rights. This is a low number considering some other European leagues like The Premier League, The Bundesliga, League One, etc.
The main reason to create the new “BeNeLeague” would be money. Right now, both leagues can’t follow other European leagues in terms of financial stability, and this would be the key to do so. Experts believe that the new “BeNeLeague” would be worth around $350m in TV rights per year. This would be a significant increase in revenue, placing them 6th in yearly TV rights income behind only the top-flight leagues in England, Spain, Germany, Italy, and France.
Belgian clubs unanimous in giving the Dutch-Belgian league a shot
The Pro League mentioned, “The 25 clubs are unanimous in their desire to give the BeNeLeague a fair chance.” The Belgian and Dutch clubs have already been considering the format and details for months, but a formal proposal is still not here. However, there is a concern amongst fans, and rightly so. They believe that this change will only favor the big clubs, which isn’t wrong. Although, this would undoubtedly bring more excitement to both leagues, as everyone always wishes to watch the higher-ranked teams.
What would the league look like?
- The plan would be to have an 18-team league, likely consisting of eight clubs from the Belgian Pro League and ten teams from Eredivisie.
There is no doubt that this would be an exciting change. Smaller clubs would be on the losing side since they don’t have enough quality to join this league, but this change would certainly bring lots of neutral fans around the world and make it much more interesting to watch. On the plus side, the best teams in the new “BeNeLeague” would receive more money after each season, giving them more money to compete against other clubs in Europe.
As previously mentioned, the Belgian clubs have voted for the “BeNeLeague,” but some Netherlands’ clubs don’t want it to happen. The “BIG” clubs in the Dutch league and most of their fans would like to see the new league come to life, but the smaller clubs are very much against it. Most soccer fans worldwide would love for this idea to come to life, but we’ll just have to wait until the final decision comes. It would be interesting to see how it works out.
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