Sub-Saharan Africa

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

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.

BeIN Media Group will launch tenders for French Ligue 1 media rights in Brazil and Latin America next week, TV Sports Markets understands.

Cricket South Africa has filled the gap created by the postponement of this year’s T20 Global League with the T20 Challenge, a decision that will go some way to repairing its relationship with SuperSport

UK racecourse owner and operator Arena Racing Company (ARC) has secured new rights deals with omni-channel content solutions provider Vermantia and Australian wagering company Tabcorp and has also extended a partnership with the Bookmakers Afternoon Greyhound Service (BAGS).

African pay-television broadcaster Kwesé TV has launched its sports service in Nigeria.

African pay-television broadcaster Kwesé TV has returned to Zimbabwean screens following the latest court ruling over the legality of the service.

Fox Sports Africa has bolstered its European football content by acquiring rights to the English Football League and the Turkish Süper Lig across sub-Saharan Africa

The Pro14 cross-border rugby union league secured the medium-term future of its new format with the agreement of a lucrative deal across sub-Saharan Africa earlier this month.

African pay-television broadcaster Kwesé TV has launched in South Africa, as it faces further problems in Zimbabwe.

The MP & Silva agency has agreed rights deals in a host of territories for the inaugural season of the World Boxing Super Series.

SuperSport, the pay-television broadcaster that operates in sub-Saharan Africa, has acquired rights to the Pro14 ahead of the debuts of South African teams the Cheetahs and Southern Kings in the club rugby union competition this weekend.

African sports broadcaster Kwesé Sports has acquired rights to International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) competitions throughout sub-Saharan Africa under an agreement with sports broadcaster ESPN.

The Zimbabwe government and the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) have banned African pay-television broadcaster Kwesé TV from operating in the country.

The expansion of the cross-border Pro12 rugby union competition, following the addition of two South African teams this week, has been driven by three factors: the desire to improve the competitiveness of the league, the aim of bringing its media-rights revenues closer into line with its rivals, and the availability of the Cheetahs and the Southern Kings.