Across Africa (excluding Northern Africa), Cricket Australia (CA) has entered into an agreement with telecommunications and TV provider, Econet Media, which will broadcast Australian cricket content through its multiscreen offering, Kwesé Sports.
It is the first time that CA has segmented the African territory and the agreement covers international men’s and women’s cricket as well as the KFC Big Bash League (BBL) and the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) for the next five years, starting with the coming 2016/17 season.
It is the first time that CA has segmented the African territory and the agreement covers international men’s and women’s cricket as well as the KFC Big Bash League (BBL) and the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) for the next five years, starting with the coming 2016/17 season.
CA has also retained some non-exclusive digital rights which will see cricket fans in Africa who are subscribers with Econet Media having access to live stream Australian cricket content via cricket.com.au and the CA Live App.
Econet Media through Kwesé Sports has committed themselves to ensuring that they offer audiences on the African continent content with a wide-ranging appeal. This need has seen the broadcaster in recent months securing the rights for English Premier League for 50 countries across Sub-Saharan Africa as well as the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Joe Hundah, CEO of Econet Media, said: “The partnership with CA is a continuation of our commitment to bring great quality content to our audiences in Africa. A content offering that will appeal to all our audiences, and provide variety as diverse as our beautiful continent.
“Cricket is loved in Eastern and Southern Africa and we wanted to ensure that our audience in these markets would have an opportunity to enjoy the best action available. We are also excited about the opportunity to expose the sport to new audiences within those markets.”
Ben Amarfio, CA executive general manager of media, communications and marketing said: “We’re really excited to renew with our long standing partners as well as welcome new partners Econet Media into the Australian Cricket family.
“The appetite and competition to acquire Cricket Australia’s media rights is a testament to the outstanding quality of cricket which has been consistently demonstrated by our cricketers and this continues to attract very strong interest for our game. We are fortunate to be partnering with such prominent companies who clearly value the quality of Australian cricket content.
“The growth of the overall cricket product offering, including the Big Bash League in recent years, has been phenomenal, particularly in the past 12 months. We are constantly looking at innovative ways to reach new fans around the world; it is very much a focus for us to ensure the game is accessible on multiple devices and we create greater reach and breadth of coverage for fans.
“Our current and new broadcast partners are renowned for delivering world class sports broadcasting and we look forward to them taking the game to more people in innovative ways. This is a very important aspect for us in our efforts to grow the game and was a major consideration as our broadcasting team completed these latest rights deals.”
Econet Media through Kwesé Sports has committed themselves to ensuring that they offer audiences on the African continent content with a wide-ranging appeal. This need has seen the broadcaster in recent months securing the rights for English Premier League for 50 countries across Sub-Saharan Africa as well as the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Joe Hundah, CEO of Econet Media, said: “The partnership with CA is a continuation of our commitment to bring great quality content to our audiences in Africa. A content offering that will appeal to all our audiences, and provide variety as diverse as our beautiful continent.
“Cricket is loved in Eastern and Southern Africa and we wanted to ensure that our audience in these markets would have an opportunity to enjoy the best action available. We are also excited about the opportunity to expose the sport to new audiences within those markets.”
Ben Amarfio, CA executive general manager of media, communications and marketing said: “We’re really excited to renew with our long standing partners as well as welcome new partners Econet Media into the Australian Cricket family.
“The appetite and competition to acquire Cricket Australia’s media rights is a testament to the outstanding quality of cricket which has been consistently demonstrated by our cricketers and this continues to attract very strong interest for our game. We are fortunate to be partnering with such prominent companies who clearly value the quality of Australian cricket content.
“The growth of the overall cricket product offering, including the Big Bash League in recent years, has been phenomenal, particularly in the past 12 months. We are constantly looking at innovative ways to reach new fans around the world; it is very much a focus for us to ensure the game is accessible on multiple devices and we create greater reach and breadth of coverage for fans.
“Our current and new broadcast partners are renowned for delivering world class sports broadcasting and we look forward to them taking the game to more people in innovative ways. This is a very important aspect for us in our efforts to grow the game and was a major consideration as our broadcasting team completed these latest rights deals.”
By: sportingindustry.co.za
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