By Jaroslaw Adamowski
February 24 – STES, the marketing arm of the Czech football association FACR, has signed a new broadcasting rights deal for the country’s Gambrinus Liga with local company Pragosport. The Czech company acquired the broadcasting rights for the top tier of the Czech professional football league for the next four years. The contract will enter into force in the 2014/2015 season.
The amount of the contract will not be disclosed, but the new terms are better than those from the previous deal signed with KPS Media, said a league statement.
The new four-year contract is unofficially estimated to be worth CZK440 million (€16 million). At CZK110 million (€4 million) per season, this would represent an increase of 22.2% compared with the previous CZK90 million (€3.3 million) per season deal, reported local daily Mloda fronta Dnes.
“This is clearly progress for the top Czech league. I have been saying for a long time that the broadcasting rights for the Czech league have been undervalued in comparison to other neighbouring countries,” said Dusan Svoboda, head of the Czech football league association (LFA). Pragosport won the contest because it offered the highest bid, Svoboda said.
The signing of the deal follows the release of improved attendance results for the league’s 2013/2014 mid-season. After fifteen rounds, the average match attendance was 5,062 spectators, an increase of 10.5% compared with 4,584 spectators in the same period a year earlier.
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