bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Martin Wong

Armchair soccer fans are still in limbo as the stalemate continues over whether English Premier League matches can be broadcast in the SAR - with the football season just six weeks away.

Jannie Poon, spokesman for the Star Group, which owns the exclusive rights to broadcast the matches, said talks with television channels in Hong Kong were still in progress.

'Nothing is conclusive and we are still talking with the pay-TV stations,' she said.

The first matches kick off on August 18, but Ms Poon said there was no deadline to reach a deal.

A spokesman for ESPN, part of the Star Group, said he remained confident of bringing Premier League soccer back to Hong Kong viewers in time for the new season, although not necessarily through Cable TV, which has screened games in recent seasons.

'We are still negotiating with Cable TV and other interested parties,' he said.

'We are optimistic the Hong Kong football fans won't miss a single match.'

He said the group hoped to bring back the entire ESPN sports channel to Hong Kong.

'One option we discussed is for the interested party to buy the whole Star ESPN Sports channel, instead of negotiating over individual leagues each time,' he said.

ESPN also holds the right to screen the European Champions' League, the highest level of club football in Europe.

The spokesman denied the group would carry English Premiership soccer by itself without negotiating a secondary deal.

'The Star Sports channel is now free-to-air. We are looking for a platform on a pay-for-view basis,' he said.

Lee Wai-leung, manager of the King's Arms bar in Kowloon Tong, said he hoped Cable TV could make an announcement soon.

'Turnover has dropped by as much as 30 per cent since the end of the football season. It is really quite important for our business,' he said.

For many bars, showing live English soccer matches has been the main attraction for customers.

Mr Lee said if Cable TV lost the bid he would need to resort to alternative means of showing live English football matches.

'Although Cable TV still owns the right to broadcast the Italian soccer league, it in no way compares to the English league,' he said. 'Hong Kong people love the English one because they love the stars. They know all the players well.

'I will install the Thai pay-TV channel. I just asked the price - the installation fee is $20,000 and the annual subscription fee is about $2,000.'

Mr Lee said that as the Government might legalise soccer betting, live coverage of matches would become even more important.



Home viewers and bar owners kept waiting on TV rights decision as season kick-off nears