StarTimes secures Uefa rights deal through to 2022

Africa’s leading pay-TV operator, StarTimes has announced its acquisition of the rights to broadcast UEFA National Team Football and the FIFA World Cup 2022.

The company will transmit the Euro 2020, European Qualifiers, UEFA Nations League, European Qualifiers, European Qualifiers and the FIFA World Cup 2020 in all countries across sub-Saharan Africa, excluding South Africa, and on all media platforms.

The rights are shared with pay-television broadcaster SuperSport, which holds: exclusive free-to-air and pay-television rights in South Africa; non-exclusive English-language pay-television rights across the rest of sub-Saharan Africa; and exclusive French-language pay-television rights across sub-Saharan Africa.

SuperSport and Kwesé struck deals for the properties with Uefa in 2017; the deal saw Uefa increase its national-team properties fee income by roughly 70 per cent.

Kwése had been struggling with financial issues before its parent company, Econet Media, announced that it would be discontinuing the business from August 5. StarTimes had been capitalising on Kwése’s demise by growing its football property portfolio steadily over the last 18 months.