Mediacorp bids for four key matches at FIFA

The four matches include the opening game between host South Africa and Mexico on 11 June, the semi-finals on 6 and 7 July, and the final on 11 July.

Singapore's telco players SingTel and StarHub have been unsuccessfully negotiating the rights of the tournament. It is believed that Fifa has asked for exorbitant US$100 million for the matches to be shown here, a much higher sum from what Starhub had paid in 2006.

The media industry in Singapore has welcomed the move.

Desh Balakrishnan, media director at MPG, thinks that the chances of MediaCorp winning the bid is very high.

“The winning broadcaster is usually obligated to let the MediaCorp show these four matches free of cost but since the deliberations are still going on the national broadcaster has made a brave move. It is more like a CSR initiative as selling world cup sponsorships could be very challenging.”

According to Balakrishnan, Mediacorp is only likely recover some part of the amount it will invest in the bid.

SingTel and StarHub had in December released a joint statement about their negotiations with FIFA and their aim to bring the World Cup 2010 to Singapore at an affordable price.

The statement talked about how the cost of World Cup has escalated substantially and how "SingTel and StarHub put in a joint offer recently that would provide FIFA with an increase in value from four years ago for the rights to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, while ensuring that it would remain affordable to the broadest number of our customers."

The statement also stated that "in an attempt to reach a value that is acceptable to FIFA to bring World Cup to Singapore, the price offered to FIFA would sacrifice all World Cup margins for both SingTel and StarHub while keeping the price affordable for consumers."

In November, the two telcos were locked in a war of words in the local media over StarHub’s proposal to carry SingTel-branded Barclays Premier League (BPL) and ESPN Star Sports channels.