Posted on 11/07/2015 9:46:54 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
In the late 1970s, in the American state of Connecticut, a hockey official got fired, took out a $9,000 cash advance on his credit card and convinced an oil company to help him launch a sports network called ESPN.
By contrast, Russia’s new 24-hour sports network had a quintessentially Russian origin: Kremlin Decree Number 365.
President Vladimir Putin signed that decree in mid-July, laying the groundwork for a dedicated federal sports network called Match TV. Putin hailed the network as a way to display “spectacular competition†and “popularize a healthy way of life.â€
The network launched this week, free of charge, and it faces a dilemma. Russians aren’t really into watching sports, at least not their domestic leagues, in part because the nation’s best soccer and hockey athletes go to other countries to play for higher-paying, higher-quality teams, and also because network sports entertainment remains in its infancy.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
Somethings don’t change in Russia. They still have top down economics. Some admire the statism of Russia’s Putin and Putin’s Russia. It’s not exactly entrepreneurial when the president-for-life chooses a new TV network.
Yeah Russia is an authoritarian state, so kind of hard to encourage entrepreneurship there.
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