Sub-Saharan Africa

This month’s deals for South American football rights followed a trend in the sub-Saharan African sports rights market in 2016 – Kwesé Sports and StarTimes acquired second-tier properties, Fox Sports were outbid and SuperSport let go of a poorly-performing property.

South African public-service broadcaster the SABC has acquired rights for the Uefa Euro 2016 national football team tournament.

Malawian broadcaster Beta Television has agreed a three-season deal for the rights to the Super League, the top division of club football in the African country.

The National Basketball Association has more than doubled the value of its media rights in sub-Saharan Africa after securing an exclusive deal with start-up pay-television operator Kwesé TV.

Free-to-air sales in sub-Saharan Africa for the Euro 2016 tournament are well underway, with the CAA Eleven and TV Media Sport agencies enjoying some success in their respective territories.

A dispute over Nigerian Professional Football League media rights between SuperSport and Total Promotions Limited has gone to private arbitration, TV Sports Markets understands.

John Manning, research analyst for SportBusiness Intelligence, reviews television audiences in selected key cricket markets for the recent ICC World Twenty20 tournament

Telecommunications company Econet has agreed a multi-year deal to become the new broadcast partner of the NBA in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Nigerian Olympic Committee has agreed deals to sublicense free-to-air rights for the 2016 Olympic Games to four broadcasters.

The value of the English Premier League’s free-to-air rights in sub-Saharan Africa has fallen by about 17 per cent after a difficult cycle in which the last rights-holder handed back its rights.

Telco Econet Wireless has paid a huge increase to land rights to the Extreme Fighting Championship across 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.