- IOC agent asks for US$70 million (HK$540 million) for Tokyo and Paris Games broadcasting rights which no TV station can afford
- Hong Kong fans face the prospect of missing their heroes in Tokyo, including medal favourite Sarah Lee
Senior sports official Kenneth Fok Kai-kong urged the government to honour its word of supporting Hong Kong athletes by securing the TV rights for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games this summer.
The vice-president of Hong Kong Olympic Committee said on Friday that it is already "too late" to secure the rights as broadcast preparation work should have started a year ago, but no Hong Kong television network is willing to pay the astronomical fees, especially with Hong Kong battling the coronavirus epidemic..
"The government should step in to buy the television rights," said Fok, who is strongly tipped to replace his father, Timothy Fok Tsun-ting, as president of the organisation in a couple of years.
"We have raised concerns about the broadcasting matter with the government since November, including a letter to chief executive Carrie Lam, but so far little progress has been made. If the government chooses not to do anything now, it would become never for Hong Kong people to watch the Tokyo Games."
On Wednesday, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said in his 2020-21 Budget Speech that the government would give Hong Kong athletes "our strongest support to enable them to achieve outstanding results at the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games".
"Support can be in monetary terms but can also come in other forms," said Fok. "The government has spent a lot of resources on developing Hong Kong athletes over these years and we can see their improvement in the sporting arenas.
"But support can also be the opportunity of watching the performances of Hong Kong athletes in major games such as the Olympics. If a lot of people watch Sarah Lee Wai-sze under a big screen in Victoria Park cheering for the Hong Kong cyclist, it would certainly be a big boost for her to perform in Tokyo."
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Fok said they would leave it to the government to sort out the details of how to use the TV rights to promote Hong Kong athletes, but the most important thing is for Hong Kong to get the rights.
The IOC, through its broadcasting partner Dentsu Sports from Japan, requested a sum of US$70 million (HK$546 million) for the sole broadcasting rights in Hong Kong for the next two Olympic Games in Tokyo and Paris. Even if they agreed to split it equally between the two Games, it is a huge amount.
Hong Kong faces 'scary' US$70 million cost to broadcast Olympics
TVB paid US$15 million (HK$120 million) for the Rio Games rights and suffered a loss of over HK$100 million, including production costs.
"We know it would be very difficult for any media to negotiate the price and that's why we want the government to step in," said Fok.
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