SCREENING OF WORLD CUP MATCHES

Column: 1223

SCREENING OF WORLD CUP MATCHES: 16.

Er Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (a) what were the criteria used in the selection of the 16 community clubs to screen the recent World Cup matches; (b) whether the Ministry will consider extending the screening of high-profile sporting events to all community clubs in future; and (c) how can a repeat of the issues in securing World Cup broadcasting rights be prevented in the future.

Mr Lim Boon Heng (for the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports): The recent live screening of the FIFA World Cup matches at the 16 Community Clubs (CCs) was a tremendous

Column: 1224

success. About 184,000 residents visited the CCs. Our grassroots leaders and People's Association (PA) staff took this opportunity to organise activities for the participants so that they can get to know one another better. Indeed, the success of the World Cup screening demonstrates the potential of using sports to bring residents together to bond.

As the Member may know, there are costs involved in the screening of the World Cup matches "live". We were fortunate to have Singapore Pools, SingTel and StarHub sponsored the World Cup screening at the CCs. I must first thank Mr Zainudin Nordin, Mayor for Central Singapore District, for initiating this and for getting the support of the sponsors as well as the other four Mayors. However, as the sponsorship was only for a certain number of sites, we could only extend the screening to a limited number of CCs. The CCs were selected on the basis of having one screening in each Group Representation Constituency (GRC), or three per District. This is to ensure a good geographical spread of the screening at CCs throughout Singapore to benefit residents. The selection of CCs also took into consideration the availability of suitable screening facilities.

Er Lee asked whether we will consider screening high-profile sporting events at all CCs in the future. PA would certainly like to encourage and facilitate such activities as a way to bring residents together. However, it would depend on whether sponsorship is available to support such screenings and whether approval can be obtained from the rights holder. Notwithstanding this, individual CCs may also decide to fund the screenings themselves, if the rights are available.

I will now touch briefly on the securing of World Cup broadcasting rights. The bidding of broadcast rights of

Column: 1225

major international sporting events such as the World Cup is a matter of commercial negotiation between the pay TV retailers and the rights holders, based on their respective business considerations. For subsequent World Cup bids, I am sure SingTel and StarHub will draw from the experience and knowledge gleaned from this year’s World Cup bidding, especially the price point at which consumers would be willing to pay to view the event. However, the ultimate decision rests on the rights holder – FIFA, in this case. If FIFA demands a higher bid price and consumers are not willing to pay more, then consumers must, unfortunately, be prepared to forego watching the matches.

3.00 pm

Mr Speaker: Order. End of Question time.

[ Pursuant to Standing Order No. 22(3), Written Answers to Question Nos. 19 to 23 on the Order Paper are reproduced in the Appendix*. Question Nos. 17 and 18 have been postponed to the next available sitting of Parliament .]

*Will be reproduced in the printed copy of Singapore Parliament Report.