LONDON, Sept 27 (Reuters) – Broadcaster SuperSport has
retained the rights to show live English Premier League soccer
matches in South Africa, Nigeria and other part of sub-Saharan
Africa from 2013-2016, the Premier League said on Thursday.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed but the
20-team league is believed to have secured an improvement on the
current deal which expires at the end of this season.
“We have worked with SuperSport for a number of years and
are extremely pleased to extend our partnership,” Premier League
Chief Executive Richard Scudamore said in a statement.
SuperSport, part of the MultiChoice pay TV business, has its
headquarters in South Africa but broadcasts across the
continent.
The Premier League is in the process of renewing overseas
broadcast contracts in territories around the globe. It has
already secured a 70 percent increase in the value of domestic
TV rights in an agreement worth more than 1 billion pounds
($1.62 billion) per year.
English soccer is available in 720 million households around
the world and its top clubs have a big global following.
The total value of overseas rights under the current
three-year deal was around 1.3 billion pounds – a lot more than
other European leagues can generate for their international
rights.
Manchester United said earlier this month that it expected a
“substantial increase” in the value of international television
contracts.
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