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Written on January 22, 2010 by Christopher Ong

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World Cup 2010: We won’t be held hostage

With World Cup 2010 balls so big, it is no wonder that they are demanding for $100million.

(photo credits:SA-Venues.com)

Singapore – Singaporeans face the possibility of not watching a single match of the FIFA 2010 World Cup in South Africa, this after Fifa demanded $100million for the exclusive television broadcasting rights from both Starhub and Singtel.

The sum of $100million for the rights to air the 64 World Cup 2010 matches is more than 6 times the amount Singaporeans paid to watch the last World Cup during 2006 in Germany ($15 million) and 10 times more than the cost of World Cup in South Korea and Japan during 2002 ($10 million).

This comes after SingTel paid an unprecedented $400million for exclusive rights to broadcast the Barclays English Premier League until 2013, edging ahead fiercely from its teleco rival Starhub, who has long since been the dominant player in the market. Undoubtedly, the fact that the television rights for the English Premier League (EPL) went for so high a price alerted the businessmen at Fifa, who felt that they could wield a stronger hand at the negotiating table.

Although SingTel has managed to price its EPL package competitively despite the $400million invested to obtain the exclusive rights, it comes as an unwanted consequence that Singaporeans now may have to end up missing the World Cup 2010 action due to the reluctance of any television broadcaster to foot the ludicruous amount of money that Fifa is demanding. Even if the television rights are eventually obtained for a lower price, it is unlikely that Fifa would budge very much from its asking price and Singaporeans have a likelihood of paying much more than they ever did in order to watch the World Cup matches.

Or is it?

How to stop yourself from being a Fifa 2010 World Cup hostage
A flurry of letters and suggestions, almost short of a national pandemia, were discussed and mooted among Singaporeans concerned with the Fifa World Cup conundrum. Among some of these valiant suggestions were to have MDA pay a share of the cost of television broadcasting rights demanded by Fifa from its annual $110 television license fee that all Singaporeans have to pay, and/or for Singapore Pools to also contribute to shaving a fraction of the cost, considering that it makes one of the most handsome profits from football betting during the World Cup.

But what’s their answer? They don’t care if Singaporeans will end up missing the World Cup. Not even if some of us have waited 4 years for this.

Is this really the end for all the hope and excitement for the World Cup? Maybe not.

One Singaporean wrote in to the papers to suggest that he would take a short trip down to JB in order to watch the World Cup 2010 matches in the coffeeshops. This is not a bad idea to begin with, but one may doubt its feasibility for Singaporeans not staying anywhere in the North (think Woodlands, Sembawang or Yishun?) and having to report to work the very next day. If it’s true that a sizable amount of Singaporeans will be heading over across the causeway to the shores of our friendly neighbours, then the Malaysian authorities must be very happy indeed.

But what else? One point that has not been suggested is the very possibility of streaming these football matches over the Internet. Already there exists thousands of free peer-to-peer networks that stream English Barclays Premiership, La Liga and Seria A matches over the internet. Given that a considerable amount of Singaporeans are already on a broadband connection network, watching the World Cup 2010 matches over our computer screens is a definite possibility.

Most of these streams can survive on a 512kps broadband connection, a speed which is already considered archaic by today’s standards. A 1Mbps connection works much better, and there’s always the option of watching a World Cup match delayed by a few minutes in order to buffer video play. And of course, an internet connection speed above that will stream the matches live rather seamlessly.

Certain joys from watching the World Cup may have to be sacrificed. For instance, you wouldn’t get the option of being able to watch the match from several different camera angles, to choose so as you wish. Out of the window would also be the joy of watching extremely clear graphics on your computer monitor, unless a super fast connection could be found. One may have to also watch the telecast in a different language, if the feed for the stream originates in, say, a television channel in China.

And unless your soccer buddies are hardcore enough, forget about those massive house parties where a bunch of people from your gang could hang out and catch the World Cup matches on a big enough screen together.

But why hasn’t this been proposed? Perhaps because it may not be a ‘right’ thing to do.

Then again, charging us $10 for a thing we used to pay $1 for, may not be exactly a ‘right’ thing to do either.

595221 Comments2010-01-22+11%3A10%3A50Christopher+Ong on "World Cup 2010: We won’t be held hostage"

Speak Song on Fri, 22nd Jan 2010 9:09 pm

I suspect a pun in your photo comment. LOL.

For sure I will stream all the matches from my 25 inch monitor. All for free. Screw you Fifa and the $100m, you won’t get a single cent from us into your greedy pockets.

paul on Sat, 23rd Jan 2010 12:02 am

I don’t really understand why FIFA should be asked to accept less than the EPL – why should the greatest football show on earth be worth less than a domestic league???

boon on Sat, 23rd Jan 2010 3:15 am

fifa stands for finding incredible (for your own)(asking price)!!!!!Fifa has completely destroyed the Beautiful Game!!!!!

boon on Sat, 23rd Jan 2010 3:19 am

The world biggest game,The world cup should be available to all at a reasonable price.In this way, the popularity of football will grow!!!!By asking such an exorbitant price is making the sport look like a commodity!!!!!!

Speak Song on Sat, 23rd Jan 2010 10:58 am

HI Paul,

This is because the EPL matches consist of 38 games played by 38 teams (that is somewhere close to 150 games) played and telecasted over a period of 4 years. So that means SingTel paid $400m for about 500 EPL Games. Which is of course overpriced.

How about the Fifa World Cup? It’s just 64 games played over a little more than a month. To pay $100m for that is ridiculous by any standards.

Paul on Sat, 23rd Jan 2010 11:44 am

I still think it is odd that all the other 180+ countries managed to pay FIFA's asking price and frankly, think that most Singaporeans would agree that Brazil vs Portugal for example is worth at least 3x more than Wigan Athletic vs Sunderland.

If we had true competition in SIngapore's TV market, we would not be having this silly discussion and blaming others!

Boon on Sun, 24th Jan 2010 7:10 pm

Fifa always stresses on fair play.However,whichever I look at it, it isn't fair for Singaporean to miss out on the most anticipated and most watched world cup!!!!!!Actually,there is a solution.Why not make it a pay per view sort of thing,just like the boxing match.For example,if we want to watch Brazil vs Portugal,we just need to press the remote and the price will be deducted from our subscription.In this way,we can choose which match we want to watch and I can guarantee the total amount collected by the Telcos would be enough to pay the fees Fifa imposed.

The Singapore Daily » Blog Archive » Daily SG: 25 Jan 1020 on Mon, 25th Jan 2010 11:11 am

[...] 2010 – The Kent Ridge Common: World Cup 2010: We won’t be held hostage – The Gigamole Diaries: Between World Cup 2010 and Haiti…… the choice is [...]

skeptic on Mon, 25th Jan 2010 3:52 pm

People are so easily manipulated by the media. Other poorer countries can get it without problem but the temasek link companies can't because it means less profit. The Straits Times like to paint Singtel and Starhub as victims but they can't even get their facts right. First they say it cost 100 million now they say it is 40 million.

Any reasonable bunch of people would ask these hard questions but instead Singaporeans are blaming FIFA because of what they read in the Straits Times. I find it funny that people blame FIFA after reading the Straits Times and without hearing from FIFA's side.

Football Fever on Mon, 25th Jan 2010 7:34 pm

come on, FIFA,make world cup matches available to all,regardless of where u live,how rich or poor u are.Remember,it happens only once every four years and if we,Singaporean were to miss out,we would have to wait for another four long years.All the gatherings that we all planned earlier have to be cancelled and it would affect our quality of lives.Remember,we all followed the qualifiers closely and if we were not able to watch the finals,it would be like just like having the appetiser and not having the main course in a dinner!!!!!!!Please,Fifa,Please,singtel and starhub,u have to come out with a solution by hook or by crook to provide Singapore with all the 64 matches and not only selected ones as different matches appeal differently to different people.U cannot say that this match is more important than the other so u have to show all the matches and we must not pay too high a price to watch them!!!!!!!!!!

Sibeh Sian on Tue, 26th Jan 2010 8:34 am

Yes I totally agree with Skeptics's comments.
From day 1 I question the report from Straits Times, when they reported "a source close to Singtel" alleged that Fifa charges 100 mil.

From the internet, I gathered that Fifa is charging USA 100 mil USD for the next 2 WC (2010 and 2014), Fifa is charging Aussie 30 mil AUD for the next 2 WC, and Fifa only stands to gain 4Bil SGD from the TV rev of this current World Cup (200 plus nations, hence average 20 mil per country).

Hence, there is no way Fifa gonna charged Spore so expensively and excessively.
Straits Times, in a bid to shift attention away from the big GLCs and effectively, the MDA as well, has tried to use Fifa as the scapegoat. This is just another instance of the reporting standard in Singapore.

Sad to say though, based from what I read, most people chose to believe what the MSM chunks out wholeheartedly and blamed Fifa for everything that has transpired, instead of trying to decipher the information more. Singaporeans definitely need to be more savvy in that area.

Football Fan on Wed, 27th Jan 2010 7:27 pm

It would be a laughing stock if Singapore were to miss out on the world cup!!!!!!!Just imagine,Singapore is a global city with all the modern amenities like world class resort, casinos,up coming theme parks world no. 1 airport,first class transport system etc.Without the broadcast of the world cup would the world attention on Singapore and make people wonder whether Singapore should be a real global city!!!! It is totally unthinkable!!!!!!!!

world cup on Wed, 27th Jan 2010 10:31 pm

Without showing the world cup in Singapore would have an adverse effect on the economy.Many tourists would not want to come to Singapore during the world cup period and it would have a great impact on the tourist industry.F&B indusrty would also suffer.As a result,I would suggest the government intervention would be a good solution as this concerns the gdp (gross domestic product) of Singapore.

The Singapore Daily » Blog Archive » Weekly Roundup: Week 05 on Sat, 30th Jan 2010 10:52 am

[...] 2010 – The Kent Ridge Common: World Cup 2010: We won’t be held hostage – The Gigamole Diaries: Between World Cup 2010 and Haiti…… the choice is [...]

Analysis & Facts on Sun, 7th Feb 2010 6:57 am

Actually all Singaporeans (including you!) are being manipulated by the local media into thinking it is FIFA’s fault! But consider this fact: poor third world countries across the world will be watching all the games so the TV rights are defintely NOT only a question of money.

Why? FIFA hands out the contracts by BIDDING. This means that there should be at least TWO interested parties. If there is only one than obviously FIFA will set a fixed price which always higher. The executives at Singtel and Starhub thought they could save some money a joined bid. They were wrong and now they are trying to blame FIFA.

The responsible executives at Singtel & Starhub should give up their bonuses to pay for the rights as compensation to the Singapore public for this debacle.

Busybody on Tue, 11th May 2010 6:19 am

Watch World Cup in hotel – Amara Hotel is showing all matches.

Takako Almiron on Wed, 16th Jun 2010 2:17 pm

I bought my word cup team jersey, I am wearing it now!

kitchen design on Thu, 17th Jun 2010 10:56 pm

Usually I don't article on blogs, but I wish to say that this article very forced me to do so! Thanks, really nice article.

Ccc Cleaner on Sat, 26th Jun 2010 5:50 pm

Thank you for sharing, with my best regards

Kimbra on Mon, 28th Jun 2010 1:59 pm

World Cup gets so much more exciting in the knockout stages.

Heng on Mon, 5th Jul 2010 12:50 pm

I need to know how much did singtel and starhub pay for FIFA’s rights. It will determine if I vote for my govt in the next elections.

If the price is too high and yet singtel and starhub pay up, then it is totally not right to be blackmailed by FIFA. This should go to the international tribune against FIFA for anti-trade practices.

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