Deputy President of the Cyprus Football Association (CFA) George Koumas says clubs on the island are benefiting from the €12million in revenues generated from television rights.

Speaking at the ‘Business Of Football’ Conference in Nicosia on Friday, Koumas – who is in charge of television distribution rights operations at the CFA – spoke of the significance of revenues earned from television deals in Cyprus.

“Today, our clubs can reap the rewards from television deals,” he said.

“Back in 1996, clubs could would earn from the £200,000CY generated from the television deals. Today that figure stands at €12million. That is more than some other bigger leagues in Europe.”

Clubs in Cyprus are entitled to negotiate their own television deals with various broadcasters although it is Cytavision and Prime Tel that are the main live football broadcasters in Cyprus with CyBC also holding the rights to some UEFA competitions.

Apollon and Omonia were among the biggest clubs that had television deals with Prime Tel last season although the majority of the clubs are linked with Cytavision – that is also official sponsor of the Cypriot championship.

Cypriot football clubs have taken a hit in terms of revenue in the last few season attributed mainly to low attendance numbers for many of the clubs with hooliganism and high ticket prices at some grounds blamed for many fans staying away.

“Without the collaboration from Cytavision, Cypriot football would have suffered even more in the last few years. They are not only important in terms of keeping the league competitive, but also vital in helping teams in Europe – like APOEL who have reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League in the past and the Last 16 of the Europa League last season.”

Others in attendance at the conference including the former president of the Cyprus Sports Organisation (CSO) Nicos Kartakoulis, TEAM AG Chief Operating Officer Simon Crouch, KPMG Football Benchmark Consultant Pedro Iriondo and Marc Schmidgall of the European Club Association ECA).

Also in attendance at the conference are marketing representatives from Real Madrid, PSG, Legia Warsaw and Olympiacos.

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