The Botswana Football Association could cancel its deal with television production company RP Productions for domestic media rights for the Botswana Premier League due to non-payment of rights fees, according to the Botswana Gazette newspaper.
RP Productions is understood to have planned to generate income from the rights by selling advertising around matches shown by the broadcast partner they sublicensed the rights to, public-service broadcaster Botswana TV. However it has struggled to secure advertising sales.
The company has failed to pay a rights fee instalment of BWP2.1 million due to the association.
RP Productions acquired the rights to the league last August in a three-year deal, from 2011-12 to 2013-14, worth BWP4.2 million (€213,000/$280,000) per season. In February it sublicensed the rights on to Botswana TV at cost price.
Botswana TV head of sport Edson Malebane told the Botswana Gazette that his company had paid RP Productions an initial instalment of BWP2.1 million as scheduled and would pay a further BWP1.05 million in June before transferring the remaining BWP1.05 million at the end of the season.