Malaysia: Costly Place to Watch the World Cup?
Rejoice, football fans! It’s nearly the football season again! And as much as die-hard lovers of the sport like you eagerly wait for the season to start, you know, too, that this means added expenses you should already start making room for in your budget—as early as now.
World Cup Coverage
Malaysia is the second most expensive country with Pay-TV schemes in the Asia Pacific region.
As one of the many countries with broadcasting rights to the 2014 FIFA Games in the region, Malaysian football fans can watch one of the most popular sporting events in the world live—with no delays and no lagtime.
In Singapore, where only 4 matches are free to play, people have to pay SingTel—the broadcaster with exclusive rights to the World Cup in Singapore—SGD 112 (RM 290.16 or USD 88) for all 64 matches.
This makes Singapore the country in the Asia Pacific with the most expensive fees for fans who plan to watch the World Cup. StarHub, another Pay-TV service in Singapore, has expressed their disappointment over SingTel’s pricey acquisition of broadcast rights for the football tournament. In the previous World Cup tournament, SingTel and StarHub had a joint bid to broadcast the matches in Singapore. In 2010, the price to watch all of the World Cup matches was SGD88 (RM 228 or USD 69.50). SingTel has been criticised for overbidding on the broadcasting rights, which made the pay service too expensive for football fans in Singapore.
Hong Kong also has only 22 matches free-to-air, and requires payment of HKD 148 (RM 62.07 or USD19.05) for all 64 matches to be broadcasted on Pay-TV, making it the third most expensive country to view the 2014 FIFA World Cup, after Singapore and Malaysia.
FIFA also has given Indonesia, India, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, China, Philippines, Cambodia, Thailand, Australia, and Vietnam rights to broadcast the month-long football championships, and most of these countries will off the matches on free television.
2014 FIFA Games on Free TV This June
Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM), the nation’s public broadcaster, has been given exclusive terrestrial broadcasting rights to this year’s World Cup. RTM will be broadcasting 35 of the 64 matches between June 12 and July 13—24 of which will be live telecasts, and 11 delayed telecasts, in High Definition (HD).
Among the live telecast matches in Malaysian free TV will be those of Brazil, England, Argentina, Spain, France, Portugal, Italy, South Korea, and Japan.
According to RTM Broadcasting Director-General Datuk Norhyati Mohd Ismail and Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, RTM will source funds for the free broadcast of the World Cup matches from advertisers and sponsors. It will not be fair for taxpayers, they claimed, if the broadcaster used funds from the government for the exclusive broadcast.
Aside from RTM, Satellite Pay-TV provider Astro Malaysia was also given broadcast rights to all 64 matches, in Standard Definition (SD) and in HD, as well as in 3D, pending FIFA’s decision, on 10 of Astro’s channels. However, if you’re an Astro Malaysia subscriber to the sports package, you won’t have to pay for the service. If you haven’t subscribed yet though, you can purchase a special pass for all matches for just RM 100 (USD 30.50).
Astro will also be streaming the World Cup matches on their mobile app to enable on-the-go subscribers to watch matches on their mobile phones or tablets. There are 30 live matches available for the Astro On-the-Go mobile app, and 5 delayed matches. Subscribers are free to pick which matches to watch.
Live Screenings in the City
Of course, if you don’t want to subscribe to anything, but still would like to watch the games, you might be able to catch them in various sports bars and pubs in and around the city where you live. GridIron Sports Cafe & Lounge in Bangsar Baru, Kuala Lumpur is one such pub where you can go for live screenings of sports events like the FIFA World Cup while enjoying a late Saturday night dinner or drinks out with friends. Angus O’Tool’s in Karon Beach, Phuket is another great sports bar where you can watch the World Cup after an exciting day at the beach.
Due to the popularity of football as a sport in Malaysia, there are a great many number of pubs and bars that offer live showing or streaming of the matches, especially in and around Kuala Lumpur. While it’s definitely not the same as watching live in your own living room, it’s much cheaper and kinder to your wallet, which is a boon if you don’t want to spend as much to see the games but still wish to be a part of the whole fun and craziness that are staples of the football season in Malaysia every year.
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