Africa

The Infront agency is interested in acquiring rights for the Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League top-tier club football competition.

The Federation of Uganda Football Associations has agreed a four-year media and commercial rights deal with local sports production and marketing company Sports Broadcasting – an agreement it states will be transformational for the sport in the country.

BeIN Media Group has recouped just under 44 per cent of its total fee for Ligue 1 international rights from sublicensing deals in sub-Saharan Africa this month.

L’Obs TV, a broadcaster recently formed by Senegalese media company Groupe Futur Médias, has acquired rights in the country to the 2018 Fifa World Cup national team football tournament.

SuperSport, the pay-television broadcaster that operates in sub-Saharan Africa, has struck a three-year extension to its rights deal for tennis grand slam the Australian Open.

Moroccan public-service broadcaster SNRT has acquired rights to the 2018 Fifa World Cup, according to multiple reports, with Morocco set to make its first appearance at the national team football tournament in 20 years.

Pay-television broadcasters Canal Plus Afrique and Kwesé Sports have been awarded media rights to Ligue 1, the top division of French club football, in sub-Saharan Africa, TV Sports Markets understands.

Renewing Uefa Champions League rights has cemented SuperSport’s place as the leading pay-television sports broadcaster in sub-Saharan Africa for at least the next four years.

SuperSport, the pay-television broadcaster that operates in sub-Saharan Africa, has renewed a rights deal for the Uefa Champions League club football competition by a further three years.

The Premier Soccer League, organising body of the top two divisions of South African football, has agreed a five-season extension to its rights deal with SuperSport, the pay-television broadcaster that operates in sub-Saharan Africa.

South African multi-platform media outlet Soccer Laduma has entered into a digital partnership with the Bundesliga, the top tier of club football in Germany.

Rights to three of sub-Saharan Africa’s most popular domestic leagues are on the market, though their fortunes are likely to differ wildly.

International media and entertainment company Discovery Communications has transformed the structure of its regional businesses across Europe, the Middle East and Africa and promoted Kasia Kieli to lead operations.

The Competition Commission of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) has identified a “number of concerns” amid an ongoing probe into the commercial partnership between the Confederation of African Football and the Lagardère Sports agency.

Pay-television broadcaster Fox Sports has acquired rights in Italy to the 2017 Fifa Club World Cup, while pay-television operator StarTimes, which broadcasts in sub-Saharan Africa, has extended its deal for the annual football tournament.

The Premier Soccer League, organising body of the top two divisions of South African football, has extended the tender process for its next set of media rights, with a number of parties in contention for the packages on offer.