The cabinet committee on government purchase approved the proposal submitted by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for the acquisition of the tournament’s media rights. The ministry signed the agreement at a cost of Tk 72 crore, 70 lakh, 57 thousand and 692.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting will spend $3.85 million, equivalent to around Tk 47 crore 26 lakh, in the direct procurement. With VAT and taxes included, the total expenditure comes to Tk 72 crore 70 lakh. The proposal was placed before an emergency meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase on 7 June, chaired by Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, having first been cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.
The move ends weeks of uncertainty over whether Bangladesh viewers would be able to watch the tournament at all. A Singapore-based company, Springbok Private Limited, had originally acquired the broadcast rights for Bangladesh but withdrew from the arrangement after failing to sell them on locally, leaving the country without a broadcaster less than two weeks before the opening match on 11 June.
Information and Broadcasting State Minister Yasser Khan Chowdhury and Bangladesh Football Federation president Tabith Awal played central roles in breaking the deadlock. The two worked in tandem to approach sports channels, national media organisations, telecommunications operators and several OTT platforms, and identified new revenue streams from the digital and telecoms sectors that had not been tapped in previous World Cup broadcasting arrangements in Bangladesh.
All matches will now be broadcast on three channels: Somoy TV, BTV and T Sports. Viewers will also be able to stream the games on Banglalink’s OTT platform Toffee and Grameenphone’s streaming service Bioscope. Crucially, BTV will bear no cost for the broadcast rights. The full financial burden will be shared jointly by the satellite television channels and telecommunications operators involved in the consortium.
The arrangement means fans in remote areas of the country, where cable and satellite connections are often unavailable, will be able to watch every match free to air through BTV. Organisers hope the accessibility will drive a significant uptick in public interest in the tournament ahead of what promises to be a landmark edition of the competition.
