The Infront agency has agreed a three-season deal with the English Premier League to market free-to-air rights across sub-Saharan Africa.
The contract will run from 2019-20 to 2021-22 and covers over 40 sub-Saharan countries, including major territories such as South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya.
Broadcasters will be allowed to show one live match every Saturday, as well as weekly preview, magazine and highlights programmes.
The project will be managed by Infront’s recently-created Africa division based in Paris, which will focus on distributing media rights across the continent. This specialised team has been strengthened by the appointment of Christophe Van Rothem, who has broad experience in selling media rights in Africa and will be leading the sales effort.
Jean-François Jeanne, Infront France’s managing director, said: “Infront has a history of delivering rights to sub-Saharan Africa following our success with the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and we believe that this new agreement can be the start of a long-term and trusted partnership with the Premier League. The establishment of our new Media Rights Africa division is a clear sign of our strategic goals on the continent.”
Pay-television broadcaster SuperSport acquired exclusive pay-television rights to all matches and free-to-air rights to matches outside the Saturday 3pm kick-off slot in sub-Saharan Africa, including South Africa, for the 2019-22 cycle in 2017.
