Singapore Platforms Continue World Cup Negotiations

SINGAPORE: Singaporean platforms StarHub and SingTel are struggling to reach a deal for World Cup 2010 rights, issuing a statement noting that the asking price to broadcast next year’s event has "escalated substantially."

The rival platforms put together a joint bid in order to "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 said. The platforms said that the price they offered to FIFA "would sacrifice all World Cup margins for both SingTel and StarHub while keeping the price affordable for consumers."

A deal, however, is yet to be reached. "We will continue to negotiate with FIFA in an attempt to reach an agreement," the two companies said.