NBC Cautions Broadcasters on EPL Rights

 National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) last week disclosed that broadcasters paid more than N5.8 billion for the English Premier League (EPL) rights, which it thought was quite outrageous.
Engr. Yomi Bolarinwa, NBC’s director-general told newsmen in Makurdi that the Commission had already appealed to broadcasters to be more reasonable in their bidding next season.
“When a service provider goes internationally to bid for a programme, he hopes to recoup that money and make profit. And who are the people paying for the service? It is Nigerians that pay.”
“We have invited the service providers and told them that they should please bid reasonably this time,” he informed.
“Considering the amount of money the service providers put into a foreign football league, if a quarter of that amount is put into the local league, we will develop the league. We will employ labour and the economy will be better for it,” he stated.
Bolarinwa said the local league could be developed to be a crowd-puller and revenue-earner like the EPL, urging service providers to look inwards for the benefit of the economy.
Concerning the transmission of the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa, Bolarinwa said the NBC had already consulted the Broadcasting Organization of Nigeria (BON) to ensure uninterrupted transmission of the event to Nigeria; adding that BON, as well as all stations in Nigeria both private and public, have the right to transmit the World Cup in Nigeria.