Africa

Telecommunications company Econet has acquired free-to-air rights for the English Premier League in sub-Saharan Africa.

Motorsport’s Formula One is the latest sports property to take advantage of increased competition in the African sports market, almost doubling its media-rights fee in a new deal.

The Discovery Networks Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA) division of international media company Discovery Communications has appointed Sascha Kojic, formerly of the MP & Silva agency, to the newly created role of vice-president of sports for the CEEMEA region.

The Confederation of African Football (Caf) has launched an invitation to tender for the host broadcast production rights for a series of its competitions.

Contracts for Diamond League rights in sub-Saharan Africa are in the process of being rewritten for the 2016 season.

SuperSport, the pay-television broadcaster that operates in sub-Saharan Africa, has appointed Gideon Khobane as its new chief executive.

Mexican mobile entertainment provider Binbit has struck a multi-year deal with North American basketball league the NBA to distribute mobile phone content to fans in certain countries across Latin America, Europe and Asia.

Start-up pay-television operator Kwese TV is the latest company set to challenge SuperSport in the sub-Saharan market, and its Kwese Sports channel is already battling the dominant sports broadcaster head-on for rights outside South Africa.

England’s Premier League is understood to be prioritising reach and distribution over revenue in the sale of its free-to-air rights in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Sporty Solutionz agency has broadened the reach of the Masters Champions League for the debut season of the Twenty20 cricket competition by striking rights deals covering the Middle East, Pakistan, sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean.

Pay-television broadcaster Fox Sports has retained rights in Australia for Test matches and tournaments operated by Sanzar, rugby union’s governing body in South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.

State-owned broadcaster Somali National Television (SNTV) is to broadcast live coverage of a football match in the country for the first time.

UK racecourse owner and operator Arena Racing Company has agreed a deal to distribute audio-visual coverage of South African horse racing to betting shops in the UK and Ireland.

Pay-television broadcaster SuperSport has renewed its deal for MotoGP rights across sub-Saharan Africa, paying a significant increase to beat competition from rival StarTimes.

Pay-television broadcaster StarTimes has paid what is considered to be a high fee to secure rights to the Coppa Italia in sub-Saharan Africa.

TV Media Sport added football’s European Championship to its free-to-air portfolio in sub-Saharan Africa, securing a buyout deal with Uefa.