The English Premier League, the country’s top football league, is enjoying heightened exposure across sub-Saharan Africa this season thanks to a 30-per-cent increase in the number of free-to-air broadcaster deals brokered by the Infront agency.
Infront, the media-rights agency responsible for negotiating the league’s free-to-air deals in the region, said that more than 25 broadcasters across 20 territories are airing Premier League matches this season across a range of languages, including English, French and Portuguese.
The agency said that new agreements in the likes of Benin, Botswana, Cameroon and Zambia had helped to develop the free-to-air exposure across the region.
The agency is in its second season of a three-season deal to market one Premier League match per match week to free-to-air broadcasters across sub-Saharan Africa. The contract, which expires at the end of the 2021-22 season, also includes rights to weekly preview, magazine and highlights programmes.
The equivalent package was previously held by the now-defunct pay-television arm Econet.
The rights sold by Infront are non-exclusive with pay-television broadcaster SuperSport holding the (pay-television) rights to all 380 matches per season across the region.
Among deals in place for this season include agreements with South African free-to-air broadcaster OpenView, Nigeria’s public broadcaster the Nigerian Television Authority and Cameroonian free-to-air broadcaster Crtv Sports.
Jean-François Jeanne, managing director of Infront France said: “This the second season we have worked alongside the Premier League in sub-Saharan Africa and this growth is a testament to the knowledge and experience our dedicated African division has when it comes to media rights on the continent. The league is one of the best in the world and we are delighted to see loyalty from our long-term partners as well as a recognition from new broadcasters who are keen to deliver world class action to their viewers.”
Paul Molnar, the Premier League’s director of broadcasting added: “Sub-Saharan Africa has produced many of the Premier League’s top stars, and we are delighted that the passionate fan base in the region will continue to have greater access to our matches. Infront’s experience in finding the most well-established and reliable broadcast partners has helped deliver our product to a wider audience.”