Update | All speculations that Viaplay should make way for Ziggo "can be thrown in the trash"

Chris Woerts, a well-known sports marketer, can confirm that Viaplay is currently in dire straits. On Thursday, it was revealed that Viaplay had to dismiss several Dutch employees due to disappointing financial performance. The expansion abroad appears to be falling short, making the company currently unable to cover the costs. Viaplay will focus entirely on sports in the Netherlands, but it remains uncertain whether the streaming service wants to retain the rights to Formula 1.

Viaplay's problems are primarily occurring abroad. In the Netherlands, the platform has a considerable number of subscribers, and the viewership has remained fairly consistent since its inception, although this is not enough to cover the current deficits. "They are definitely in dire straits, 100%," Woerts tells BNR. "The expansion abroad has been very disappointing. They have an insufficient influx of new subscribers and too high costs for content acquisition. That's a deadly combination."

"The company paid a record amount, around 30 to 35 million euros per year. That was a tremendous explosion of costs, and it's very difficult to earn that back," the sports marketer continues. The problem for Viaplay is that the Dutch viewer primarily focuses on sports, resulting in cutbacks in the Scripted Content department. However, viewers are also frugal when it comes to Formula 1. "As soon as the finish line is in sight and Max (Verstappen, ed.) becomes world champion, people all start pausing their subscriptions and the number of subscribers decreases."

Ziggo Sport still "very interested" in rights to F1 

The signals coming from Viaplay are music to Ziggo Sport's ears. The broadcaster lost the rights after the thrilling 2021 season, but it has been indicated that the channel wants to reclaim those rights. More clarity on this will emerge in the near future. "In August of this year, the rights will be on the market again. It will then become clear whether Viaplay retains the rights or if they go to another party, such as the still very interested Ziggo Sport," says Woerts.

Update 9:34 (15/07) | All speculations that Viaplay should make way for Ziggo "can be thrown in the trash"

Sports marketer Chris Woerts has indicated on the Dutch show Vandaag Inside: de Oranje Zomer that indeed things are not going well for Viaplay, but nobody needs to worry because the streaming service will stay in the Netherlands. "Everyone speculates that Viaplay is doing very poorly, and it is indeed doing very poorly. Viaplay has lost 77 percent of its market value, but Ziggo is not going to buy the rights. I called the boss of Viaplay, and he said: 'We will stay strong in the Netherlands. There is nothing wrong, so all those speculations can be thrown in the trash,'" says Woerts.