The satellite TV operator NTV-Plus (the Russian Federation) will extend the contract with the Russian Football Premier-League (RFPL), as Kommersant informs.
In general, the contract will not be so different from the previous one: the TV Company will broadcast the games of next three seasons, paying for this opportunity about USD110 million. But in view of RFPL’s losing Sogaz Company, the major sponsor of the competition, its revenues could drop significantly.
Mikhail Gershkowich, CEO of the League-TV (a company founded by the RFPL for commercial transactions), reported that legal services had been currently concluding cooperation agreements, subject to further examination of the management of both companies.
Nobody has disclosed the financial transaction costs so long. But, according to Mr. Gershkowich, under the actual situation the overall annual cost of all the RFPL’s commercial rights is USD110-120 million.
According to the Kommersant’s sources, the terms of new contract practically reflect the terms of the previous one signed before. Thus, in 2012 the real income of the League of TV from the contract totaled over RUR 3 billion (under the former rate it’s about USD90 million). For sure, this time the final amount will be higher, as the company managed to increase the number of its subscribers, and have over 450 thousand of them now, while as far back as in 2013 there were only 266 thousand.
Given this, we can confidently say that the company expects a partial success. But the Liga-TV still should take into account the fact that it will have to lose partially its annual earnings of RUR700 million due to the Sogaz Insurance Company’s leaving.
In order to increase its profits the League-TV has to find a new sponsor. The Kommersant’s sources report that during the negotiations on a new TV broadcasting contract, the Gazprom-media’s representatives put forward an offer, stipulating that the prime candidate for this place might be selected among representatives of their company.
