Econet secures FTA Premier League rights for Africa
Rebecca Hawkes
| 21 March 2016
Econet Media will air one Premier League match a week free-to-air (FTA) across sub-Saharan Africa, following a rights deal with the English football organisation.
The deal, which spans three seasons beginning 2016-17, will see Econet’s Kwese Sports platform have rights to one game each Saturday – along with weekly preview and review shows – in 50 countries across the continent.
“We are very pleased that Econet Media has chosen to invest in the package of free-to-air broadcasting rights that we have made available in sub-Saharan Africa,” said Richard Scudamore, executive chairman, Premier League.
“Premier League clubs enjoy passionate support across sub-Saharan Africa and these rights are important to ensuring that as many fans as possible can follow and enjoy our competition.”
Kwese will assume the role of an agent for the rights, making them available to Africa’s FTA broadcasters. It is unclear yet whether Econet’s video-on-demand (VOD) service ipidiTV will also deliver the Premier League games.
Econet Media CEO Joseph Hundah added: “England’s Premier League is a globally prestigious sporting competition, one that is deeply loved by millions of African sports fans. As such we are very committed to obtaining these rights and have invested significantly to acquire them.
“We want to make this League available to fans across sub-Saharan Africa and so, through Kwese Sports FTA partners and other platforms, we hope to widen access to this property.”
الرئيسية 