VodafoneZiggo's 'ESPN in every TV package' ads ruled misleading — again

On September 22, 2026, the Dutch Reclame Code Commissie ruled that VodafoneZiggo's campaign for ESPN — 'Het Sportnetwerk', developed by Brothers & Sisters — was misleading and unfair. Since July 1, 2026 the four ESPN channels had been available to Ziggo subscribers in all encrypted TV packages from TV Start upward, and the advertising claimed ESPN sat 'in every TV package, for everyone, really for everyone'. But the unencrypted KabelTV package does not carry ESPN, nor do coax internet-only subscriptions that bundle the unencoded TV channels.

The ruling followed a complaint from a KabelTV customer who could not receive the channels the ads said everyone gets. VodafoneZiggo argued the unencrypted offer falls outside the regular package range, that it is a separate and outdated service, that ESPN requires the signal to be encrypted, and that the average consumer understands 'every TV package' in context. The Commission rejected all of it: the average consumer reads the ads as promising ESPN to everyone with a TV package, and essential information for an informed purchase decision had been omitted.

It was not the first time. In 2023 the Commission had already ruled in a similar case about the availability of ESPN1 at VodafoneZiggo. This time the provider said it had adjusted its website, yet Marketing Report found the claim 'standaard in elk tv-pakket' still in use without clarification on the ESPN page after the ruling, with only a partial rewording elsewhere. The TV campaign had ended by publication; Reclame Code Commissie rulings are not legally binding.

The Reclame Code Commissie ruled the Het Sportnetwerk ads misleading and unfair and asked VodafoneZiggo to stop advertising this way — after a similar 2023 ESPN1 ruling.

The campaign promised ESPN 'in every TV package — for everyone, really for everyone'.

Two real tiers, KabelTV and coax internet-only bundles, did not carry the ESPN channels at all.

The Commission found essential information had been omitted, leaving the average consumer misled.

A 2023 ruling on ESPN1 availability had already put the provider on notice about the same claim pattern.

'Available in every package' claims fail if any legacy or bundled tier is excluded — the exception has to be as visible as the promise.

VodafoneZiggo was asked not to advertise ESPN's availability in this manner; the TV campaign had ended by the time the ruling was published. As of Marketing Report's October 8, 2026 write-up, the 'standaard in elk tv-pakket' claim still appeared without qualification on the provider's ESPN page, though a separate page had been reworded and an FAQ disclosed the KabelTV exception.