In recent months, the idea of creating a football league combining the best teams from Belgium and the Netherlands, set to be named BeNeLiga, has become increasingly concrete. A significant step forward was made on Thursday, January 23, when the major clubs from both the Belgian and Dutch top divisions met to not only discuss the proposed ideas but also review the numbers in a report prepared by Deloitte.
According to the report, the creation of a single league would attract a larger pool of fans and sponsors, with the possibility of generating as much as 400 million euros solely from television rights sales. Currently, each of the two leagues generates no more than 80 million euros from such sales. The merger of the Jupiler Pro League (Belgium) and Eredivisie (Netherlands) would thus bring substantial financial benefits to the football scene in both countries, allowing clubs to strengthen financially and reduce the gap with the top European clubs.
However, the merger would not only have economic implications but could also shift the sporting balance both within and outside the two countries. Currently, Eredivisie and Jupiler Pro League consist of 18 and 16 teams, respectively, while the new league would be made up of 18 teams, with 10 from the Dutch top division and 8 from the Belgian top division. The decision to include more Dutch teams is mainly due to the difficulty that lower-ranked Belgian clubs have in filling their stadiums, with many of them struggling to reach 5,000 fans per game.
The creation of BeNeLiga could also have significant repercussions on the European football landscape, as it could potentially add a new league to the so-called five “major leagues” (Spain, Italy, Germany, France, and England), capable of attracting internationally renowned players. In this context, the top Belgian and Dutch clubs, such as Anderlecht, Club Brugge, RC Genk, AA Gent, Standard Liege, Ajax, Feyenoord, PSV, AZ, Utrecht, and Vitesse, are the main drivers behind the merger.
This proposal is not entirely new; the idea of uniting Belgium and the Netherlands in football has been raised before, but this time its realization seems more possible. The main uncertainty at this point concerns the timing in relation to the current television contracts signed by the two federations. The first available window appears to be in 2025, when the Jupiler Pro League’s television rights will expire. However, as stated by Bart Verhaeghe, president of Club Brugge, efforts are being made to accelerate the process by at least one year.
The creation of a single top division that includes both Belgian and Dutch teams has already been implemented in 2012 for women’s football, but that experience proved unsuccessful and ended after only three seasons due to the inability to reach a financial agreement among the clubs. The BeNe League in ice hockey, founded in 2015 to merge the leagues of the two countries, has had more success and continues to operate, helping to address the economic difficulties faced by both nations’ leagues.
Photo Credit: Footbola.it
BOCCONI STUDENTS FOR SPORT MANAGEMENT 
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