Cambodia denies demanding huge fee from Thailand for SEA Games broadcast rights
The Cambodia SEA Games Organising Committee (Camsoc) on Monday denied a Thai media report that the host nation was demanding a hefty fee from Thailand for broadcasting rights of the upcoming SEA Games 2023.
Thai PBS World, the renowned outlet in Thailand, recently reported that Cambodia was asking US$800,000 (28 million baht) for live broadcast rights.
Citing an unnamed source, the media also said that the Sports Authority of Thailand is requesting funding from the National Radio and Telecommunications Commission's research and development fund since the SEA Games are listed in the "must have" sports events.
Under the “must have” law, seven sports competitions, including the SEA Games, Asian Games, Olympics, Paralympics, and World Cup, are required to be broadcast for free.
In response to those claims, the secretary-general of Camsoc, Vath Chomroeun, said that Cambodia had never demanded that amount of money for broadcasting rights.
He told Khmer Times: “We [Camsoc] are not involved in fee negotiations, as we leave it to our agency”.
“The final fee will be the one agreed upon by both parties, and Cambodia will not have any decision on it. We are not forcing anyone to pay for the rights,” he added.
The broadcast fee relies on marketing considerations and the size of the individual audience, which varies by nation, according to Camsoc.
He rejected as “misinformed” the Thai media claim that none of the participating countries was prepared to pay the broadcasting fee. “As of now, almost all countries have acquired the rights to broadcast the SEA Games from Cambodia, including Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia,” Chomroeun said.
“The rest are still in the negotiation process,” he told Khmer Times.
He assured that local TV channels in Cambodia would be able to broadcast for free the SEA Games, scheduled for May.
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