Vietnam broadcasters struggle to acquire Olympics screening rights

Acquiring the screening rights for major sports events, including the Olympics, is always a challenge for broadcasters and media agencies in Vietnam, since the price has been skyrocketing for the past 10 years.

National broadcasters VTV started negotiations to buy Tokyo Olympics screening rights in 2019. However, according to Tuoi Tre newspaper, these rights would cost 20 times more than those for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

A VTV official said the broadcaster is still negotiating and hopes people in Vietnam could watch the Olympics on television.

In fact, only the country’s big broadcasters are interested in purchasing rights to major sporting events.

"Two years ago, we were approached by different partners that asked us to buy screening rights for the Olympics. However, the price was too high and the chance for profit nearly zero," a VTV official said.

Previously, Vietnam nearly became the only country without World Cup 2018 broadcasting rights. But VTV received support worth $4.94 million from a big corporation in Vietnam to purchase these rights last minute.