Preventing damage to revenue
The 2026 World Cup will officially kick off in mid-June. Vietnam Television (VTV) is the unit that owns the broadcasting rights for the biggest tournament on the planet. Most recently, TV360 has announced that it will cooperate with VTV in broadcasting all matches of the 2026 World Cup on many platforms.
The cooperation between the two major Vietnamese broadcasters in this deal not only has the meaning of sharing advertising revenue and boosting subscriber registration. This is also a joint effort to prevent the problem of copyright infringement, which has been a burning issue for many consecutive years.
Over the past time, the investigating police agency has continuously dismantled a line of sports copyright infringement, illegal football distribution, and betting advertising. This opens up opportunities for fans to access copyrighted broadcasting sources brought to Vietnam by television stations.
In particular, from the perspective of experts in the field of digital content copyright protection in Vietnam, the timely intervention of state management agencies in cases of handling violating individuals and organizations is of great significance.
Accordingly, businesses operating in official broadcasting and television services in Vietnam are protected in terms of revenue, as well as the legitimate sports ecosystem from broadcasters.
To buy the copyright of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League or Premier League, the seller clearly stipulates in the contract terms that Vietnamese broadcasters must protect the content copyright.
For programs allowed to be exploited on social media platforms, broadcasters are only allowed to broadcast in Vietnam. Similarly, the website and application platforms also have clear regulations on the form of exploitation.
In addition, the seller also closely monitors cases of copyright infringement, especially exploiting sources from the station that buys the tournament copyright.
At that time, the story will not only stop at the impact on revenue, but Vietnamese broadcasters may be discontinued from broadcasting, ending cooperation in the near future. The reputation of the unit and the ability to negotiate copyright in the next time will have a significant impact," an expert said.
How to protect World Cup copyright?
In parallel with efforts from the investigating police agency, the units holding the World Cup copyright also have technical professional measures to minimize copyright infringement.
For example, at a pay television unit, the team performing the task of reviewing and directly protecting copyright of owned content ranges from 10-15 people.
In addition, broadcasters and digital content copyright holders also have proposals to the Department of Cyber Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention (A05 - Ministry of Public Security) and relevant ministries and sectors to further support businesses doing business in official television broadcasting services in two directions.
First, there is coordination down to all internet service providers in Vietnam. These units coordinate to simultaneously block "illegal" domain names right from the time of review and detection. This stage must be carried out directly, on time for the match to take place.
The second is to focus on solving violations on social network platforms. Units holding digital content copyrights wish the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) to be the lead unit to work with transnational network platforms, supporting traditional television businesses in Vietnam in protecting copyrights in cyberspace.
Finally, it is the awareness of digital content consumers themselves. In fact, online music and movie enthusiasts are now willing to spend some money to subscribe to online music and movies. However, not everyone invests in football copyright. This stems from the rampant presence of illegal websites for a very long period.
Obviously, dismantling illegal copyright exploitation lines will be a way to ensure the rights of broadcasters as well as create new habits for football viewers in Vietnam.
