SPORTS: Cytavision, APOEL Cyprus in €9 mln TV rights deal

The agreement for 2014-19, signed on Friday by club president Prodhromos Petrides and Cyta board vice chairman Andreas Marangos, will be limited to local league games starting next month and will double the Nicosia football club’s revenues, according to fan site Apoel.Net.
The site said that the deal replaces the present agreement with cable operator LTV, adding that the company had trouble paying the previous amount due from the “bad deal”.
The cooperation agreement also does not include other commercial clauses, such as jersey sponsorship, unlike deals between other clubs and TV providers, which makes it even more favourable, as the club is free to secure additional revenue streams from new sponsors.
Cytavision said that the deal also includes APOEL’s European championship qualifier home games, together with those of the other major league clubs Anorthosis, Omonia, Apollon and AEL which it has already secured.
The new sports season package will also include 300 Premier League games a year for 2014-2016, a further 130 games a year from the German Bundesliga also for 2014-16, the Euro 2016 qualifiers and the World Cup 2018 qualifiers, apart from the Cyprus national team’s games in 2014-15 that will be broadcast in a free-view zone, as well as the NBA basketball games for 2014-16.
Cyta vice chairman Marangos (centre in photo) said that the aim was to maximise the telco’s value so that the denationalisation can proceed on better terms with potential new buyers.
The organisation if one of a handful of state-owned enterprises and assets that the government wants to divest in order to raise some €1.8 bln over the next four years and reduce the burden on taxpayers as part of the €10 bln bailout plan and economic adjustment programme agreed with the Troika of international lenders.