Good if M-League rights go to non-broadcaster, say industry experts, fans

With a non-broadcaster said to be the favourite to win the bid to sponsor the FA of Malaysia (FAM) for the next five years, the status of M-League matches being telecast live is now in doubt.

However, industry observers and football fans feel this is not something that should be of concern.

Zenith Media and IMG Global Sports are believed to be leading the race against the joint venture of Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd and Fox Sports Asia and the conglomerate of Telekom Malaysia Bhd and Media Prima.

Datuk Johnny Mun, president of 4As, said Zenith as a media specialist was looking at revenue.

“Hence they would have their technical people working on other things such as broadcasting issues.

“In the spirit of free entrepreneurship, anyone can sponsor football.

“Football is an open business and as long it is about promoting the sport, anyone can go in and sponsor,” said Mun.

The Zenith-IMG bid is the highest at RM75 million, followed by Telekom Malaysia Bhd and Media Prima with RM70 million.

Incumbent Astro is putting a bid with Fox for RM50 million.

It currently spends RM30 million a year on sponsorship and RM20 million to air the matches.

Both the proposals include broadcasting rights.

ADOI Magazine regional publisher Harmandar Singh said that FAM did not necessarily have to award the sponsorship deal to a broadcaster because broadcasting would come into play even though a company such as Zenith Media and IMG Sports Global win the bid.

“If the conglomerate of Zenith Media and IMG Sports Global win the bid, then they will go to the broadcasters. It could be Astro or Media Prima. It depends on the offer by Zenith and IMG Sports Global.

“It will be interesting to see what would be the decision of FAM. The ball is in their court now and they will have to evaluate and see which proposal fits the bill,” said Harmandar.

Malaysian football supporters' club “President FAM Sila Letak Jawatan (PFSLJ)” representative Al Fadli Awaludin said fans would prefer to see FAM award the sponsorship deal to a non-broadcaster because it opened up the broadcasting rights.

“This way it will be better for the fans because currently Astro has the exclusive rights but if a non-broadcaster sponsors, they can sell the rights of some matches to Astro, Media Prima and RTM. This way more matches will be aired and broadcasters can also make money.

“Don’t forget that Astro is also a media company and they have been biased when it comes to player interviews and press conferences all this while. So, for a change it would be good to see a non-broadcaster holding the sponsorship rights and equally selling the broadcasting rights,” Fadli said.

At the same time, he said FAM’s move to award the deal to a non-broadcaster would benefit fans and the industry as a whole.

However, there are also concerns that rights issues may cost the fans.

For example, three months ago, Taiwanese baseball collapsed because of an almost identical process involving the country’s favourite game.

The Chinese Professional Baseball League accepted the highest offer from rights agency MP & Silva, which failed to secure broadcast deals – pulling the plug in six months.

Fans were left without any games on television while clubs had to approach television stations CPBL had earlier snubbed.

This lead to the resignation of CPBL commissioner Hwang Jenn-tai.

Fears are FAM may find itself in a similar situation with television stations walking away from the league, refusing to buy from an agency.

The current sponsorship expires on December 31, while the 2015 league starts in the second week of January. – Edge Financial Daily, November 21, 2014.