Cambodia has asked for THB 28 Million (USD 800,000) for the live broadcasting rights to the South East Asian (SEA) Games that will be held this May. All participating countries denied this deal.
The Bangkok Post reported that Thailand is in negotiations with its Cambodian counterparts to lower the price.
Since the SEA Games is on the list of protected sporting events that are required to be shown live on free-to-air TV, the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) is seeking funds from the National Radio and Telecommunications Commission’s research and development fund to cover the cost.
Thai netizens have come out to social media to voice against the purchase of TV rights, citing that it is too expensive to purchase.
One netizen commented that the population’s taxes should be used in a more appropriate way, and another netizen added that the money should rather be spent to develop sporting facilities in Thailand.
A Thai PBS report said that it is customary for the host nation to charge a token fee. In 2021, Vietnam charged USD 10,000 for broadcasting rights, while the Philippines only charged USD 5,000 when they hosted the SEA games.
A source quoted in the report also mentioned Laos, as the first country to charge a payment for Broadcasting rights in 2009.
Laos had asked for a whopping THB 11 million (USD 317,000) but none of the participating countries agreed to pay the same.
Since then, no country has asked for more than USD 10,000 until now.
Cambodia has also been under scrutiny after it renamed the kickboxing sport at SEA games from “Muay” to “Kun Khmer” which wasn’t appreciated by Thai and Lao fans.
