Africa

SuperSport, the pay-television broadcaster that operates in sub-Saharan Africa, and direct-to-home and IPTV platform Digi have acquired rights to Serie A, the top division of Italian football.

International sports broadcaster ESPN has said it will provide live and on demand coverage of the forthcoming World Lacrosse Championships in Europe, the Middle East and Africa via ESPN Player, its direct-to-consumer service.

Cricket South Africa has finally delivered a workable concept for a new domestic T20 competition via a joint venture with pay-television broadcaster SuperSport.

Pan-African pay-television operator StarTimes has acquired rights to the World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) motor-racing series.

Ghanaian public-service broadcaster GTV has agreed a deal for free-to-air rights to the 2018 Fifa World Cup.

The Egyptian Competition Authority has launched action against Fifa, world football’s governing body, claiming the country’s terrestrial broadcasters are being denied coverage of the 2018 World Cup.

Egyptian Premier League club Al Ahly has signed broadcast and sponsorship rights deals with domestic agency Presentation Sports and Saudi company Sela Sport, respectively, in what it claims represents record agreements for the Arab and African football markets.

Econet Media has furthered the reach of its pan-African media company, Kwesé, by launching its pay-television operation in Liberia and its digital service, Kwesé iflix, in Zimbabwe.

Kenyan media company Nation Media Group has acquired a package of free-to-air rights to national team football tournament the Fifa World Cup.

Social media company Facebook has made its latest high-level appointment as its seeks to further bolster its presence in the sports rights market, with Rhys Beer joining from US media group NBCUniversal.

Zimbabwean public-service broadcaster ZBC has agreed a rights deal with the Premier Soccer League, the top tier of club football in the country.

Pan-African pay-television operator Kwesé TV says it is “committed to honouring its financial obligations to all rights-holders, production companies and suppliers” after TV Sports Markets learned of missed payments to several rights-holders.

Egypt’s Minister of Youth and Sport, Khalid Abdel-Aziz, has said the National Media Authority is hoping to agree a deal that will allow domestic broadcasters to televise matches from the 2018 Fifa World Cup.

BeIN Media Group has said it will “pursue all legal means” to challenge a ruling from Egyptian authorities handing down a $22.7m (€18.4m) fine to the broadcaster for alleged anti-competitive practices in the North African market.

Econet Media’s pan-African media company, Kwesé, has acquired a “significant stake” in the African division of online streaming service iflix under a deal it says will drive its go-to-market mobile delivery in each of its territories.