Artem Gagarin, Vice-President of Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih, commented on the situation with the creation of a single TV pool for broadcasting matches of the Ukrainian Championship.
Artem Gagarin- Artem Sergeevich, please comment on the situation on the single pool and all the contradictions of this issue...
— I don't understand what contradictions you are talking about now. The situation on this issue is quite clear. We can congratulate everyone, because in Ukraine, finally, for the first time in the history of our football, there is a single pool. The majority voted for this decision at the UPL meeting. Moreover, more precisely, they voted for this decision three times at the last three meetings. According to the charter of the UPL, this decision is valid.
- Some UPL clubs do not agree with this decision. How would you comment on this situation?
- Regarding the clubs that opposed the single pool, about their decision, why this is so, you need to ask them yourself, because we did not hear clear arguments, except for populist ones. They never understood why they were against it. At the meeting, calls were made to broadcast matches for free. But let's figure out what free means.
First, for cable TV, which broadcasts matches, all people pay, that is, it is no longer free. YouTube channels of clubs - and this is also not free. After all, you also have to pay for Internet traffic. There was also information that Setanta had a low coverage rate. There was a figure of 83 thousand, but this does not quite coincide with reality. In Ukraine alone, coverage is 2.5 million households. And in each of them, how many people watch TV in general? There are 2-3-4 people in one family, that is, this figure is much higher.
And if we take it with international coverage, then this figure is 50 million. Therefore, I don’t know who else in Ukraine could offer such conditions now. Moreover, the rights for different countries will be implemented separately, from which UPL clubs will also receive payments. But most importantly, our clubs will get an audience. The audience of our migrants who have moved to different countries and now will be able to watch UPL matches there. Therefore, if we are talking about large coverage, then Setanta Sports is probably the best option we could have.
- And if some clubs do not give the right to broadcast?
- All broadcasting rights belong to the UPL. It was the clubs that handed them over, so the question is not entirely relevant. But taking the opportunity, I would like to once again thank the entire team of the UPL and UAF. Indeed, during the war they created the impossible, both in global terms, I'm talking about the start of the championship during a full-scale war, and in matters of a single ball and a single telepool. For the first time, this has been done!
- What are the biggest advantages you see in the implementation of a single pool?
- There are pluses here, both purely football and for the whole country. This is a contract with a very cool foreign company. And the fact that the company is foreign is a plus for the Ukrainian economy. We are attracting foreign funds. Both clubs and the company that will produce the product will receive them. These funds will be used to pay taxes to the budget of Ukraine. Moreover, this is not just a one-year contract, but a long-term 3-year agreement with an increase in payments to clubs and, accordingly, taxes to the state budget.
- Where in the coming season, except for Setanta Sports? will it be possible to watch matches with the participation of Kryvbas?
- On the Setanta Sports channel, like other UPL matches. And some time after the end of the matches, the full record of the matches can be watched on YouTube, paying only for Internet traffic. It will also be possible to see game highlights on the clubs' official pages.
By the way, the transfer of rights to highlights will be implemented for the first time in a long time, and this will allow us to revive the releases of football reviews in the news of our TV channels. And this is also the promotion of football in this difficult period for Ukraine.
- If it's not a secret, how will the payments be distributed between the clubs?
- It's not a secret. During the war, when all UPL teams united for the sake of a single pool, there was an agreement between the clubs that this year's payments would be distributed in equal parts among all clubs. I guess it's fair. And next year, distribute according to other criteria: a place in the final standings, the number of views of the broadcasts of a particular club.
At the end of the season, we were promised that we would finally see audience coverage figures and other statistics. This is what we are all looking forward to.
