Sports Committee Urges Government to Renegotiate, Reduce 2026 World Cup Broadcasting Rights Fees

At 10:00 AM on May 21, 2025 at Parliament, Watchrapol Toemmosak, a Nakhon Ratchasima MP from the Pheu Thai Party and vice chairman of the House Sports Committee, raised concerns about broadcasting the 2026 World Cup from June 11 to July 19. The primary concern is that the government would need to spend public funds to purchase broadcasting rights. The committee believes the short timeframe before the tournament creates doubts and wants the Prime Minister to reconsider several key issues:

1. Time zone challenges: Since matches will be held in the US, Canada, and Mexico—with significantly different time zones from Thailand—broadcasts would air between 3:00-9:00 AM, making it extremely difficult to secure corporate sponsors to cover licensing costs.

2. Broadcasting rights fees: While reports suggest approximately 1.3 billion baht, the actual total including taxes of 300 million baht and technical costs of 100 million baht amounts to 1.7 billion baht. The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has already repealed the "must have" regulation, meaning it doesn't need to use public funds. The committee wants the government to renegotiate fees—noting China secured a 20% reduction. If Thailand negotiated at China's rate, costs would drop to approximately 300 million baht.

3. Lessons from the 2022 Qatar World Cup: High broadcasting rights fees, disputes between mobile operators and digital TV providers, and signal leakage across borders have made private companies hesitant to sponsor, seeing poor economic returns.

4. Gambling concerns: Major sporting events often attract gambling problems, particularly with easier access to online betting, leading to debt, crime, and social issues.

Watchrapol stated that on May 27, the committee will summon relevant agencies to discuss progress, the 1.7 billion baht budget impact, and their recommendations. The priority is for the government to review negotiation strategies to reduce fees as much as possible while minimizing government spending during the economic crisis. The committee will support whatever decision the government makes given the difficult circumstances.

When asked if the committee supports private sector participation in purchasing broadcasting rights, Watchrapol agreed but emphasized the government must first negotiate the base price. He noted that fees are typically calculated based on a nation's popularity, and while it seems absurd, the rights holder reduced fees for China and India due to their large populations and market concerns. Watchrapol expressed confidence that many countries haven't yet reached agreements and believes that in this era of high oil prices, the World Cup rights holder would be willing to negotiate, and that the Thai government can succeed in negotiations.