WC rights balloon from 0 to Tk 98 crore for BTV

State-run Bangladesh Television bought the rights to cover all 64 2022 FIFA World Cup matches for a whopping Tk 98 crore after a belated move from the government.

BTV acquired the rights from Toma Construction & Co. Ltd after a cabinet committee of economic affairs meeting on November 16 -- only four days before the World Cup began.

Due to the late initiative, the BTV is unlikely to recuperate the public money through advertisements at a time when the government, as part of austerity measures amid the dollar crisis, has been taking steps to curb expenditure. 

In the previous edition of the World Cup in Russia in 2018, BTV got the live feed for free from the media rights licensors.  The BTV had allotted the licensor the advertisement time and earned a revenue of around Tk 1.5 crore, said a BTV official preferring anonymity.

"Why did the proposal come at the eleventh hour, depriving BTV of sponsors? Now, the money will have to be spent from the government coffers," said a cabinet division source who attended the meeting.   Questions were also raised about the amount spent, especially considering the BTV got it for free before, the source added. 

Contacted, BTV Director General Sohrab Hossain told The Daily Star on Sunday: "We are going to telecast all matches of Qatar World Cup as we bought it at a cost of Tk 98 crore including VAT and taxes."

He said that they got the official clearance to buy the media rights from Toma on Nov 18.  Earlier, the BTV, in line with recommendations from the finance division, wanted to settle the media rights for Tk 54.15 crore, which Toma Constructions rejected, according to documents.  

Asked about related subsidies, Hossain said: "It is not a matter of subsidy. It is a big event and we need to entertain the people. We had an opportunity (to earn money by telecasting the World Cup matches) but we could not avail it because of a late decision."

BTV floated a tender for advertisement on November 14, but is yet to get any response, he said. 

Asked why they did not get the rights for free like last time, the BTV DG said: "This time, FIFA bindings allowed only the buyers to telecast World Cup matches live. We communicated with different companies, but they said they couldn't provide media rights for free to anyone this time."   

FIFA distributed the media rights to different licensors in the middle of last year.

Viacom18 India won all the media rights – TV, video, mobile and internet – for the South Asian territory comprising India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Bhutan.      

Hossain said that they sent a letter to the information and broadcasting ministry in February this year expressing their desire to telecast the World Cup matches, adding that they did not have enough money or logistics to participate in the international bidding. 

BTV bought the terrestrial TV rights for Bangladesh from Toma Construction after it changed three hands from Viacom18 India.  Selim Raihan, executive director of SANEM, said people mostly in rural areas depend on BTV to watch World Cup football which is very popular in the country.

"But the question is why the BTV has to pay money when it had covered the last World Cup for free. Besides, why the initiative came so late when the authority knew well in advance about it. It was not a wise decision," said Raihan. 

He further added: "Had the government planned in advance, BTV could have bought the rights at a lower price and earned considerable revenue."