NBTC approves THB600 million from its fund for acquiring World Cup broadcast rights
The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has approved a budget of 600 million baht to acquire the broadcasting rights for the 2022 Fifa World Cup, which kicks off on November 20 in Qatar.
Trairat Viriyasirikul, acting NBTC secretary-general, said that the commission met on Wednesday to consider the matter. The session approved by a majority vote a budget of 600 million baht to purchase the broadcasting rights under the “must have” rule.
Trairat said the funds will come from the NBTC’s Broadcasting and Telecommunications Research and Development Fund for Public Interest.
The “must have” rule, created by the commission in 2012, mandates that several key sporting events, including the Fifa World Cup finals, must be made available on free television.
Other sport events covered by this rule are: the Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, SEA Games, Asean Para Games, Asian Games and Asian Para Games.
The broadcasting rights for the quadrennial football extravaganza will cost 1.6 billion baht, according to media reports.
This year’s tournament is being hosted by Qatar from November 20 to December 18. Thirty-two national teams will play 64 matches in pursuit of the sport's most prestigious trophy.
“The NBTC’s resolution by majority votes approved the purchase of live broadcast of all 64 matches of the 2022 Fifa World Cup final round, to allow all Thais to watch the matches on free TV without discrimination, especially the disabled, underprivileged people and low-income earners,” said Trairat.
A news source reported that the commissioners voted 4:2 to approve the budget. The two commissioners who voted against the move were Pirongrong Ramasoota, who opposed disbursing money from the public interest fund for a sports broadcast, and Suphat Suphachalasai, who believed the purchase should be handled by a market mechanism and not the communications watchdog.
