Singapore’s multi-billion-dollar telcos and Fifa

It is amazing that, while poorer countries in Africa and Asia can afford to show the 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa, Singapore has been unable to buy the rights so far.

SingTel and StarHub said last night their "joint bid failed to get the green light from Fifa even though their offer was more than what the world football body received from Singapore for the last World Cup in 2006", reports the Straits Times.

How absurd that sounds becomes clear when you look at SingTel's annual report.

Of course, Fifa has to be paid more when their own earnings are going up.

SingTel's group operating revenue went up from 12.8 billion Singapore dollars in 2005 to 13.35 billion in 2006 to 13.37 billion in 2007 to 14.8 billion in 2008 to 14.9 billion Singapore dollars ($10.6 billion) in the financial year ended on March 31, 2009.

StarHub's operating revenue rose to 1.6 billion Singapore dollars in the year to date, it said, reporting its third quarter results on November 10.

Fifa also wants to earn more than it did in the last World Cup. Why should it be expected to settle for the same amount?

SingTel and StarHub didn't reveal the amount they bid, saying "they were unable to disclose more details due to Fifa's confidentiality provisions".

But there have been reports from South Africa about how much Fifa expects to earn from the 2010 World Cup.

It looks like Fifa's total earnings from the 2010 World Cup television rights sales will be about $400 million more than SingTel's 2009 after-tax profit.

South Africa. info reported on April 23:

Football's world controlling body, Fifa, will earn about R25 billion (around $2.8 billion) from the television rights to broadcast the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa.

That was a massive increase from the R22 billion Fifa received for the past two World Cups combined, Fifa TV director Niclas Ericson told a media briefing in Johannesburg.

Fifa would spend an estimated R1.5-billion on TV production for the world showpiece. However, Ericson said he was expecting a viewership of just over 26 billion worldwide for the duration of the month-long tournament, the same number that watched the 2006 event in Germany.

SingTel's after-tax profit fell to 3.4 billion Singapore dollars ($2.4 billion) in the 2009 financial year from 3.9 billion Singapore dollars the previous year.

I am not a regular newspaper buyer, but would love to know how the story is played by the newspapers since SingTel and StarHub are among their biggest advertisers.

The World Cup will be shown in these Asian countries by the following broadcasters, according to Fifa.com. The full list can be downloaded here from the Sales and Distribution Department of Fifa.com

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