Premier Soccer League matches are back on TV, radio

South Africans will be able to watch and listen to Premier Soccer League matches from this weekend live on SABC television and radio, after an agreement was reached this week between SuperSport and the South African Broadcasting Corporation.

It took the intervention of the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa to broker a deal, after meetings between the government, SuperSport, the SABC and the PSL.

“We have an agreement, the games are going to be broadcast, so people can watch the matches of the sport they love, football,” Mthethwa told a press conference.

No PSL games have been covered by SABC television or radio thus far this season, after the PSL released a statement saying that rights holders SuperSport had claimed the national broadcaster had asked for a deal “tantamount to discounting the PSL rights by 96 percent,”

A deal, however, has now been brokered and PSL chairman Irvin Khoza said in a statement: “We welcome the sports minister’s intervention and his willingness to facilitate a commercial agreement with the SABC. We are committed to bringing as much access to South African football as is possible to the football-loving public, in a manner that ensures the sustainability of the PSL as one of the top 10 football leagues in the world. ”

The SABC’s Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), Madoda Mxakwe added: “In line with our public mandate we are pleased to have reached an agreement, in the interest of the South African public. Most importantly, this commercially viable deal is aligned to the goal of having a financially sustainable public broadcaster. The SABC will continue to discharge its public mandate in a manner which is not only sustainable for the organisation but ensures that the South African public have access to sports of national interest such as the PSL.”

“We remain committed to long-term investment in sports in South Africa and the rest of Africa. In the previous financial year, MCG invested over R2.3 billion in sports on the continent. An important element of the investment is in sports broadcasting and sponsorship rights, which provide critical revenue streams for sports bodies that filter down to every tier and has an undeniable impact on the development of the sport,” said MultiChoice Group CEO Calvo Mawela.

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