King Power leads way to free 2018 World Cup broadcasting
The King Power International Group has been identified as the main sponsor of free broadcasting in Thailand of the 2018 World Cup Finals in Russia.
Sports Authority of Thailand governor Sakon Wannapong said the duty-free retail chain had been chosen to organise the process due to its expertise in the football business.
The company’s chairman, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, is the chairman of English Premier League’s Leicester City, while his son Aiyawatt if the chairman of Belgian division 2’s OH Leuven. CP All, Thai Bev, Ptt Public Company Limited, Bangkok Mass Transit System or BTS, the Government Lottery Office and Energy Development Company are the other organisations which will equally share the licence costs to broadcast the June 14-July 15 World Cup in Thailand.
Sakon said the seven bodies would convene to discuss their financial obligations.
They would also decide which free TV stations, likely to be on digital platforms, would broadcast all 64 games from the group stages until the final. It is expected that the total fees to be paid for broadcasting licences would be around Bt12-14 billion, meaning each organisation would fork out around Bt170-200 million.
Under the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission NBCT regulations in 2012, only free TV stations are allowed to broadcast major sport events such as the Southeast Asia (SEA) Games, Asian Games, Olympics and World Cup.
Source: Nation
