KUALA LUMPUR – Why would the Malaysian Football League (MFL) pick newcomer Spacelabs Technology Sdn Bhd to be its production partner for this season’s M-League rather than its previous partner, IDEAL Systems?
Although IDEAL Systems has been MFL’s production partner for the past 3 years, it was unfortunate that they are being replaced by Spacelabs despite their decision to retender for the new season.
Certain football experts in the fraternity have questioned MFL’s decision to proceed with Spacelabs instead of IDEAL Systems, whose list of clients, namely CNN, LinkedIn, Astro, Fox Sports, Singtel, HBO, Media Corp and TVB, are a testament of their strong credentials in the production industry.
One source revealed to The Vibes that IDEAL was ready to offer RM9.96 million per season for 415 football matches, which includes the Super League, Premier League, FA Cup and the Malaysia Cup, despite MFL owing them RM4.3 million for the 2019 season.
However, the proposed amount by IDEAL did not include the RM2 million that MFL will need to fork out in terms of salaries per season for its in-house production staff as well as talents, such as commentators, emcees and football pundits.
“This is what was proposed by IDEAL Systems to MFL during the presentation last year. Spacelabs proposed RM32 million for 3 years, which is RM3.88 million lesser than IDEAL Systems but recently, it is believed that an additional RM3 million was added by Spacelabs to purchase a back-up transmitter that will be used to communicate the feed via IP (Internet) to the MFL Broadcast Centre and to the relevant Broadcast Partner such as Unifi TV (TM Malaysia),” said the source.
The million-dollar question on the minds of experts is why would MFL risk millions going into business with a relative newcomer, specifically, one that boasts lacklustre credentials, instead of continuing with an established production company that they have partnered with for the past 3 seasons.
Nevertheless, a source revealed that MFL has decided to proceed with Spacelabs for the upcoming season because of the company’s strong contacts with the MFL board.
Earlier, The Vibes reported that MFL could be in for a shady business deal with Spacelabs as the production company did not only possess a registered company address that seemed highly dubious, it had yet to house itself in a proper office.
In an investigation conducted by The Vibes, it was revealed that the Spacelabs office was located in a condominium at the Link 2 residence at Bukit Jalil while its registered business address is owned by a tailoring shop in Jalan Pasar.
“I am quite baffled as to why MFL would bring in Spacelabs instead of IDEAL, who they owe RM4.3 million from the 2019 season.
“IDEAL has a proper office in Bangsar South, and the Singaporean-based company has been working with MFL for the past 3 years,” said a well-informed source on the matter.
Could the reason for snubbing IDEAL Systems and appointing Spacelabs be a favour granted by MFL to the latter? What do you think the reason is?
This reporter believes that only time will tell. ─ The Vibes, January 13, 2021
