Negotiations continue for securing rights to broadcast FIFA World Cup 2018 in Vietnam with just over half a month left until the ball kicks off in Moscow.
As of June 1, Vietnam remains the only country in Asia to not have the ability to screen the Russian World Cup 2018 due to a standoff over price, according to Dan Tri in Vietnamese.
The talks between state channel VTV (Vietnam Television) and Infront Sports & Media — a Switzerland-based sports marketing firm — has been mired with complexity. On May 5, it was reported by Tuoi Tre that VTV refused to budge on their red line of US$10 million as opposed to the US$15 million suggested by Infront for a complete package that spans every platform including TV, radio and mobile apps.
"It is better to let VTV negotiate as the only buyer from Vietnam, as it prevents the seller from raising their price through the roof," Vu Quang Huy, a senior executive at VTV told reporters at Tuoi Tre. The news outlet also pointed out in their Vietnamese reporting on the same day that the channel was optimistic that a deal would be reached on time.
Fast forward to May 23, Tuoi Tre broke the news that an agreement had been reached between the involved parties. VTV was expecting to pay US$8 million in total for TV broadcasting rights. At the time of that announcement, the state TV conglomerate explained that only the finer details of the package were still being worked out:
In the past, VTV paid US$2.7 million in 2010 and US$7 million in 2014 to be able to broadcast the soccer matches to local audiences.
However, in recent days several officials from VTV dismissed reports that a final deal had been brokered as the rumors entail, as Bao Tien Phong reported on June 1 in Vietnamese.
"The negotiation process is facing some difficulties because the price that our partner has asked for is simply too high," Luong updated the paper on the talks' progress. This is corroborated by the fact that an official FIFA list of countries that have been granted a media rights license, updated as of today, does not include Vietnam at all.
"If VTV cannot purchase a media rights license for World Cup then football fans will be dissapointed," Le Dinh Cuong, vice president of VNPayTV told reporters at the news outlet. "Regarding the scenario where we cannot secure a broadcasting license then TV networks will not face much disruption."
[Photo via Bao Van Hoa]
