EXCLUSIVE: Banijay Entertainment is moving the goalposts and the content giant has launched a professional Dutch soccer team. In conjunction with a group of well-known creators, it has formed a Dutch team, FC Failliet/Finesse, or FCF for short. The team is already up and running.
Ilias Vietto, Aimane Charbon and Kleine John are the creators in question. Failliet is a slang Dutch term that translates as ‘bankrupt’ so the name loosely means ‘finesse or bust’. The club crest is an image of someone with empty pockets. It is a new way into sports for Banijay, combining its programming smarts with those of the creators, who can also harness a huge social media reach.
Fans are accustomed to seeing huge media companies cover soccer events or even sponsor teams, but not to seeing them set up a professional side. Banijay Benelux’s sports-focused label Southfields came up with the idea alongside Banijay NXT, another division of the company, and the group of creators. FCF has been officially registered with the KNVB, the Dutch national soccer association.
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The team is based at FC Weesp in Amsterdam and is already playing matches. The first home game was streamed 23,000 times and its social media has generated over 22M views. It is competing in the KNVB’s Fifth Division.
Banijay has been out in force at MIPCOM this week and although this is not directly a market deal, it does chime with the emphasis on the creator economy at the event. Banijay has already made moves in this area this week, acquiring control of the creator-skewed agency Worktitel, per our earlier scoop.
There is huge interest in sports rights at the moment as well as sports entertainment shows. In terms of the creator economy, the likes of the Sidemen in the UK have already gotten fully involved. They sell out Wembley Stadium for their annual charity game.
Banijay will now have a piece of the creator-led sports action. “With FCF, we turned an idea into reality: to combine the universal appeal of soccer with the creativity of digital creators,” said Naique Tanate, Head of Banijay NXT. “The club was conceived with the vision of Southfields and Banijay NXT, in collaboration with Ilias, Aimane and John, and we’re thrilled to bring their stories to audiences around the world.”
Ernst Veldkamp, CEO of Southfields, added: “FCF demonstrates how established production expertise can unlock the potential of digital creators at scale. This collaboration is a blueprint for the future of entertainment, merging real-world sport with social storytelling, reaching new audiences, and creating new revenue opportunities for Southfields, creators and clubs alike.”
With a large and international workforce, we’ll wait to see whether any Banijay execs will don FCF kits. Before we see Marco Bassetti turn out as the team’s number 9, or Patrick Holland in goal, however, they will have to focus on MIPCOM for a little longer. The Cannes market wraps Thursday.