South Africa public-service broadcaster the SABC has agreed a deal with the South African Football Association for rights to the South African national team home matches for the next three seasons, 2012-13 to 2014-15.
The deal has been agreed in principle and is expected to be ratified next month by the boards of the respective parties. The contract is due to be signed in the second week of May.
SABC has been negotiating rights to the national team’s home games on a match-by-match basis for the last year, following the expiry of a five-year deal between the two parties in March 2011.
Both parties have also agreed to work together in future negotiations for rights to South Africa’s away matches. The two parties have previously worked together to acquire rights for away qualifiers for the Africa Cup of Nations, which were sold by the Sportfive agency under an agreement with the Confederation of African Football, African football’s governing body.