Sports media business cannot compete because of the limited financial solvency compared to other networks, former football player and member of the Board of Directors of Al-Zamalek Sporting Club Hazem Emam said.
He cited one such network as BeIN, which currently owns all rights to broadcasting all continental and global sports events.
He attributed the weakness of Egyptian sports channels to the weakness of offered content and the impact of suspending football activities in Egypt for the long period of three years.
Emam said Al-Ahly Football Club has successfully marketed itself, and the Zamalek club is following suit. Al-Zamalek’s latest league win has put it back on the market, where its sponsorship value has recently increased to EGP 50m. The exiting of the Al-Ahram institution has granted Al-Zamalek the value it deserved, noting that the agency chairman Hassan Hamdy was also president of Al-Zamalek’s rival Al-Ahly team.
Clubs’ TV channels are not utilised in the best way since they currently only fuel problems among clubs. “Al-Ahly’s channel is evidence that sport business in Egypt has been neglected,” Emam said, noting that Al-Zamalek’s new channel will only work to counter that of Al-Ahly, instead of exploiting it financially.
