Russia expects to pay $40m for 2018 World Cup rights
July 6, 2017
By Colin Mann
A group of major Russian television channels expects to pay up to $40 million (€35.2m) to buy the rights for broadcasting 2018 FIFA World Cup matches, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko has revealed, according to Russian news agency TASS.
“We have been announced the figure of $110 million for the World Cup broadcasting rights,” Mutko, who is also the president of the Russian Football Union, said. “We cannot afford such sum. The maximum sum we can pay is $38 to 40 million,” he declared. “The cost of one-minute advertising time is not as high as in other countries,” he added.
According to TASS, the deal for broadcasting rights for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, held between June 17th and July 2nd in Russia, were worth $3.5 million, and were acquired by 2Sport2 Consortium, which incorporates Russia’s major state-media channels – Channel One, VGTRK and Match-TV. The same group of companies is currently holding talks with governing body FIFA on buying the rights to broadcast World Cup 2018 matches in Russia.