Lagardère Sports today announced the additional appointment of three exclusive terrestrial broadcasters for the AFF Suzuki Cup 2018, providing football fans with the opportunity to enjoy free-to-air coverage of the tournament in Vietnam, Laos, and Brunei. VTV, TV Lao and Radio Television Brunei (RTB) will broadcast the tournament in Vietnam, Laos and Brunei respectively.
With the tournament adopting a two-legged home and away format starting from 2018, host broadcasters VTV, TV Lao and RTB will benefit from a centralised enhanced graphics package that not only features the new tournament identity but also provides real-time match statistics and data for viewers. Under the new tournament format, the home matches held in each participating country will also ensure more exposure for players in their home country, give fans the opportunity to support their national team at home, and drive greater fan engagement during the event.
In Vietnam, VTV will broadcast all 28 matches including the two-legged qualification match between Timor Leste and Brunei on 1 and 8 September, as well as the Group Stage and the Knock-out Stage. Vietnam’s U23 team performed exceptionally well this year by reaching the final of the AFC U23 Championship as well as the semi-finals of the Asian Games, which sets the stage for the Vietnamese national team to receive a groundswell of support at the AFF Suzuki Cup 2018.
In 2016, the tournament attracted over 11 million TV viewers in Vietnam and was one of the most-watched regional football tournaments in the country. Football is Vietnam’s favourite sport, and the AFF Suzuki Cup 2018 is poised to receive an unprecedented level of support across the country.
Tom Smith, President of Football (Asia) at Lagardère Sports said, “We are delighted to partner VTV, TV Lao and RTB who are committed to making high-quality sporting content available to all, and spurring the passion for football in their countries. Being national free-to-air broadcasters, making football content accessible to the widest possible audience is pivotal for the development of the sport in this region, and we are certain that fans in Vietnam, Laos and Brunei will be enthralled with the thrilling action that is coming their way in November and December.”
Lt Gen Dato’ Sri Azzuddin Ahmad (Retired), General Secretary of the ASEAN Football Federation, added, “It is widely recognised that the AFF Suzuki Cup is the bastion of Southeast Asian football, with few events in Asia coming close to its level of popularity.
This broadcast deal, together with the new tournament format, is an important step in bringing the AFF Suzuki Cup closer to local football fans, and we hope to leverage the tournament’s high visibility to inspire both current and up-and-coming players to accomplish great feats on the biggest regional stage.”
