Sub-Saharan 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.

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.

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.

Fox Sports Africa has restarted its coverage of Major League Soccer in sub-Saharan Africa after year-long negotiations with IMG and Soccer United Marketing.

Pay-television operator StarTimes, which broadcasts in sub-Saharan Africa, has acquired rights to the Fifa Club World Cup and Italian club football competitions the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana.

John Manning, research anaylst for SportBusiness Intelligence examines Rugby World Cup television audiences in the major rugby union markets.