FIFA has announced the names of the broadcasters granted media rights for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in sub-Saharan Africa.
The broadcasters are listed below:
- Econet Media, by way of free-to-air and pay-TV transmission for exploitation in all territories of sub‑Saharan Africa except South Africa;
- Supersport, by way of pay-TV transmission for exploitation in all territories of sub‑Saharan Africa;
- SABC, by way of free-to-air transmission for exploitation in South Africa;
- StarTimes, by way of pay-TV transmission for exploitation in all territories of sub-Saharan Africa except South Africa; and
- CANAL+, by way of pay-TV transmission for exploitation in all territories of sub-Saharan Africa except South Africa and Nigeria.
One of the interesting names is Econet Media (Kwesé TV) which just started operations some months ago. And Kwesé Sports will broadcast the World Cup exclusively for FREE. This has never happened before in African history.
The territories in sub-Saharan Africa are 42 in number and as follows: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Congo DR, Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The open tender for the rights was launched on 21 October 2016 and included the media rights to all 2017-2018 FIFA events**, including the FIFA Confederations Cup Russia 2017 and the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™.
The following broadcasters were awarded certain media rights with regard to other 2017‑2018 FIFA events:
- Econet Media, by way of free-to-air and pay-TV transmission for exploitation in all territories of sub-Saharan Africa except South Africa;
- Supersport, by way of pay-TV transmission for exploitation in all territories of sub‑Saharan Africa;
- SABC, by way of free-to-air transmission for exploitation in South Africa; and
- StarTimes, by way of pay-TV transmission for exploitation in all territories of sub-Saharan Africa (except the FIFA Confederations Cup 2017 in South Africa).
According to FIFA,
“The outcome of this tender process enables FIFA to reach its aim of securing the widest possible coverage across the region with the highest profile matches available on a free-to-air basis. By working together with reliable partners in the region, FIFA will make sure that football fans have access to a high-quality viewing experience for each of the FIFA events, including by way of digital platforms.”
“We are delighted to work with our appointed broadcast partners in the sub-Saharan region to allow millions of fans to enjoy each of FIFA’s various events across a multitude of platforms,” said FIFA’s Chief Commercial Officer Philippe Le Floc’h.
