Pan-African pay-television operator StarTimes has acquired rights to the top-tier Ghana Premier League as part of a wide-ranging agreement with the Ghana Football Association.
The strategic 10-year partnership will run until 2026 and also grants StarTimes rights to other Ghanaian tournaments, including the Gala, the National Division One League, the MTN FA Cup, the Ghana Women’s League and the Ghana Juvenile League.
StarTimes will pay $17.95m (€17m) for the deal, which will also focus on developing football in Ghana. StarTimes will provide the GFA with 10 artificial pitches and a fully-equipped outside broadcasting van over the course of the agreement.
The broadcaster will provide coverage of Premier League matches in Ghana and other African countries, and will invest significantly in programme production.
StarTimes will replace fellow pay-television operator SuperSport as the league’s rights-holder across sub-Saharan Africa.
StarTimes Group’s president, Pang Xinxing, hopes the agreement with the GFA will mark the start of a long-term football relationship between his homeland and Africa.
“The partnership between StarTimes and Ghana Football Association is not only the cooperation between the two sides, but also the start of a cooperation between China and Africa in the football industry,” Pang said.
“We would like to bring more excellent football matches to nearly nine million subscribers of StarTimes in Africa and we may introduce Ghana Premier League to Chinese football fans in the future, being a bridge between Chinese and African sports industries.”