Netherlands and Belgium want to merge leagues - €400m in television revenue

[Adnan]

According to German magazine Kicker.

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[Carolina Red]

That would be cool. I don’t wanna see a “super league” but some of these smaller leagues combining could be beneficial.

 

[Harry190]

On the big league checkboard, that's peanuts.

 

[RedTiger]

Bloody finally! I've been wanting this since the 90s.

Edit: after reading the piece it seems it's just talk as per usual.

 

[RedBanker]

I think it's a good plan. BeNe League? They have to come up with a better name for sure.

 

[roonster09]

Should be awesome. Wonder what the resident Dutch club and Belgian club fans think about this.

 

[Big Ben Foster]

Could get a bit messy with the separate country promotion/relegation scheme.

 

[Class of 63]

Bout bloody time, I suggested it to a senior figure from Beveren FC I bumped into(literally)in a Coffee Shop in Amsterdam way back in 1981 and he said whilst it was a good idea it was unworkable.

 

[adexkola]

I'm still waiting for that Balkans/Greek/Turkish riotous/smoke bombs superleague to get kicked off

 

[Fortitude]

Should be awesome. Wonder what the resident Dutch club and Belgian club fans think about this.

Exactly. Doesn't matter a single iota what people other than them think. After all, it is the mere pursuit of entertainment for everyone else, but the deconstruction of historical leagues and structures that should, rightly, mean something intimate and personal, to them.

 

[roonster09]

Exactly. Doesn't matter a single iota what people other than them think. After all, it is the mere pursuit of entertainment for everyone else, but the deconstruction of historical leagues and structures that should, rightly, mean something intimate and personal, to them.

Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. Some clubs might miss out on european positions and some clubs might miss out on league status. Wonder which clubs they will relegate in the first year.

@KirkDuyt thoughts on this?

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

Smart move, the Scandinavian countries should try something like this as well.

 

[JosDeVos]

Belgian here and I'm in favour.
Away games will be a bit further away but still peanuts compared to bigger countries and the actual average games should be of a much better standard.

Wish I could be more optimistic about it actually ever happening though.

 

[Florida Man]

I'm still waiting for that Balkans/Greek/Turkish riotous/smoke bombs superleague to get kicked off

Throw in Armenia and Cyprus to make it extra spicy.

 

[Siorac]

Throw in Armenia and Cyprus to make it extra spicy.

Armenia is a bit far from, well, everything.

 

[Florida Man]

Armenia is a bit far from, well, everything.

You're talking to an American here. That kind of distance doesn't even get me out of my state.

 

[Raw]

So what happens to their league tallies? Do they carry it over like how we do it with the PL (13 PL, 20 total) or does it just start fresh? Wouldn't really make sense between two countries.

 

[Adnan]

On the big league checkboard, that's peanuts.

Currently it's only €80m so €400m would be huge for them.

 

[Siorac]

You're talking to an American here. That kind of distance doesn't even get me out of my state.

Ooooh let me be serious for a moment: Turkey is like five times the size of Florida, that's the sort of distance those mega-rich Armenian clubs would have to deal with every week to play Serbian or Croatian opponents.

Not everything in Europe is tiny. Well, most of Turkey is in Asia. But still.

 

[KirkDuyt]

Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. Some clubs might miss out on european positions and some clubs might miss out on league status. Wonder which clubs they will relegate in the first year.

@KirkDuyt thoughts on this?

I understand the reasoning behind it, but it's clearly something that only has the bigger clubs in mind. Half the league will be relegated to a lower division, which is a bit of a shame.

And even with the merger, it's not like we will come closer to the biggest leagues anyway. No one outside our 2 countries gives a feck that Ajax is now playing Anderlecht instead of FC Twente.

I do realize that part of my resistance is based on the all change is bad, old man yells at clous thing.

 

[12OunceEpilogue]

I understand the reasoning behind it, but it's clearly something that only has the bigger clubs in mind. Half the league will be relegated to a lower division, which is a bit of a shame.

And even with the merger, it's not like we will come closer to the biggest leagues anyway. No one outside our 2 countries gives a feck that Ajax is now playing Anderlecht instead of FC Twente.

I do realize that part of my resistance is based on the all change is bad, old man yells at clous thing.

I feel like about every big change in sport, particularly those that upset an order that you've know all your life.

As for this idea it sounds interesting but I'd feel for the teams that are relegated from the main league.

 

[Fortitude]

I understand the reasoning behind it, but it's clearly something that only has the bigger clubs in mind. Half the league will be relegated to a lower division, which is a bit of a shame.

And even with the merger, it's not like we will come closer to the biggest leagues anyway. No one outside our 2 countries gives a feck that Ajax is now playing Anderlecht instead of FC Twente.

I do realize that part of my resistance is based on the all change is bad, old man yells at clous thing.

I don't think your last paragraph is apt here, afterall, the Eredivisie is an institution with proud teams and achievements and a massive historical legacy in world football. Not that the last bit is important to you, but I'm guessing you have emotional ties to almost all the clubs you face (scores to settle, rivalries, fond memories and nice places to visit etc.) and a lot of that is being threatened with either dilution or removal completely with the leagues merging.

Your first bolded also highlights how it favours big sides but will relegate a lot of (half of each, most likely?) teams to a lower division immediately - how must all those supporters be feeling? In the grand scheme of TV spectacle, I'm guessing they are footnotes and don't generate much viewing figures, but to those teams and those fans, what they have is and will be special.

I think these ideas of leagues being founded from what already is, only partially works, in terms of something like a superleague where giants who run roughshod over their own countries are then paired off against each other. Even then, fans of some of those super teams would hate the parity, whilst many of them would hate to lose all the historical rivalries and history of competing in their own domestic league. At least with a superleague, the notion it gives those who are left behind a chance to finally compete on an even playing field, is one of the positives in the aftermath, whereas a league merger, for those who don't make the cut, is all negative and, I would assume, gives them even less TV money to work with once the dust settles.

Would a team like Feyenoord reap any benefit from a merger? I would think that as soon as the new money was filtered through, both Holland and Belgium would see player wages and transfer fees rise, which in turn would negate the newfound funds... or perhaps, it would help you better retain players who might have gone off to get more money prior to the deal?

 

[Alabaster Codify7]

Considering neither league gets much respect from the rest of Europe, this would be a cool move to raise the bar of quality a bit.

 

[JPRouve]

I feel like about every big change in sport, particularly those that upset an order that you've know all your life.

As for this idea it sounds interesting but I'd feel for the teams that are relegated from the main league.

The issue is that it doesn't stop at the main league and the worst isn't for the ones that are relegated from them but the ones that are relegated from the lowest divison. This will kill some clubs.

 

[arthurka]

Would be great..
Think the big teams in both leagues will benefit from playing more competitive games.

 

[12OunceEpilogue]

The issue is that it doesn't stop at the main league and the worst isn't for the ones that are relegated from them but the ones that are relegated from the lowest divison. This will kill some clubs.

Those too. Seemingly every decision taken by football suits these days adversely affects those lower down on the ladder the most. Also an opponent of a Euro Super League I also can't help but see talk of amalgamations like this as a slow walk towards more transnational league competition.

 

[Kasper]

The only precedent to a league merge of (somehow big leagues) was German unification if I'm correct?

Not to say these two scenarios are comparable at all (and I'm by no means an expert on the Dutch and Belgian league) but history lesson shows that you really have to be careful on how to harmonize these structures. The east German clubs dropped almost totally from the football landscape within a couple of years (due to a variety of factors).

Like I said, the two scenarios are not comparable at all but you have to be careful that the weaker region and lower teams don't suffer as a result.

 

[RobinLFC]

Horrible idea. Every club bar the top tier ones will be left bankrupt, which is currently already happening in Belgium's 2nd and 3th league at an alarming rate.

Not that I'd care if it ever happens, the quality of our league is appaling so it hurts your eyes to watch a game longer than 5 minutes.

 

[RoyH1]

Smart move, the Scandinavian countries should try something like this as well.

They tried something of the sort called the Royal League but i flopped for financial reasons. I think the distances involved would make it hard for fans too. NL and Belgium have a much higher population density and less distance to travel between the major cities.

 

[Bole Top]

if you didn't give a feck for Ajax - Psv or Ajax - Feyenoord earlier, you probably won't give a feck for Ajax - Brugge/Gent as well. Anderlecht aren't even in top 8 eight anymore.

 

[Offside]

Bad idea. You wonder where the game is going as it becomes more and more about money.

 

[JPRouve]

Those too. Seemingly every decision taken by football suits these days adversely affects those lower down on the ladder the most. Also an opponent of a Euro Super League I also can't help but see talk of amalgamations like this as a slow walk towards more transnational league competition.

The thing is that weidly enough, a super league at continental level would be a better idea than those merger because it has a lesser effect on the smaller clubs because you don't add clubs and push some below but take away few clubs and allow smaller clubs to have access to a brighter light locally. The only potentially major difference would be in terms of TV rights but I'm not as bothered by it because at the end of the day, it would only affect the bottom half of top leagues which is made of clubs that didn't generate that money in the first place, they don't deserve it more than teams in 2nd division.

 

[Snafu17]

The small clubs would definitely get shafted but it's not like they're not getting shafted anyway, just a bit slower, while the bigger clubs from smaller countries stagnate with them. If they ever hope to, not necessarily compete, but at least challenge the elite clubs on a somewhat consistent basis then I think merging these types of leagues, where there's some shared regional history already, makes sense. I know Ajax went to the semi final last year but the last time a non top 5 league team managed a similar feat was like what, 15 years before that?

Similar sort of model could work for the Scandinavian countries and maybe some of the central/eastern block. I'd say Yugoslavia as well and it would probably be the easiest to implement since it already used to be a country but there's the war and the tensions and the hooliganism and all that.

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

They tried something of the sort called the Royal League but i flopped for financial reasons. I think the distances involved would make it hard for fans too. NL and Belgium have a much higher population density and less distance to travel between the major cities.

I think teams just didn't give a shit. With modern air travel, if only Sweden, Norway and Denmark combined their leagues, it could be very much feasible. Hell, SAS might jump at being the lead sponsor.

 

[Synco]

I think it's a good plan. BeNe League? They have to come up with a better name for sure.

NeBe League?

 

[The Original]

I feel like about every big change in sport, particularly those that upset an order that you've know all your life.

As for this idea it sounds interesting but I'd feel for the teams that are relegated from the main league.

If the two leagues get bigger, I imagine the entire football pyramid in both countries would, so relegation would still leave the relegated club better off than before. No?

 

[Paul_Scholes18]

Sad development if things like this starts to happen. Soon we have our super leagues that only care about money.
History do not matter much it seems.

 

[anant]

Think it will end badly for one of the countries. It's not unimaginable that over time the top flight will have most clubs from the same country, which would lessen the interest the impacted country's population has in the sport (as they can't play top tier football anymore, lesser chances of being discovered by the top leagues and all)

 

[JPRouve]

If the two leagues get bigger, I imagine the entire football pyramid in both countries would, so relegation would still leave the relegated club better off than before. No?

They wouldn't, the money is for the top division, the clubs in lower leagues would be affected while not having access to the money boost or TV coverage(some clubs will lose both) and if you distribute the extra money to lower leagues then you negate the point of the merger.

 

[Njord]

They tried something of the sort called the Royal League but i flopped for financial reasons. I think the distances involved would make it hard for fans too. NL and Belgium have a much higher population density and less distance to travel between the major cities.

The Royal League was a cup competition that tried to be a mini CL for Scandinavia, rather than a replacement for the leagues. It was also set in winter, after Norway and Sweden ended their seasons. Most clubs treated it as a friendly competition, and I would compare it to the pre season cups United attend, except it was set in Scandinavian winter.

Wouldn't use it's failure as comparison to this concept at all.