The South African Football Association (Safa) is cashing in on the success of Banyana Banyana, with the Wafcon champions in high demand since they conquered the continent in May.
The country’s football mother body has a free-to-air broadcast deal with the SABC, and pay-channel SuperSport is coming into the fray and has been on a match-to-match agreement with the national association. It started with the Brazil international friendly that was much sought after and it
continues with Banyana’s next fixture that will take place in London next month.
SuperSport was keen on broadcasting the high-profile African champions’ match against the South American powerhouses Brazil. SuperSport then agreed on a match fee with Safa, with the permission of the national broadcaster. It will be the same arrangement with
Safa and the broadcasters for the game in London.
“We are planning to have a meeting with SuperSport soon to finalise a deal with them. We are negotiating a long-term contract with them,” said Safa CFO Gronie Hluyo.
“The SABC are aware, and they gave us the go-ahead to talk and negotiate with SuperSport. The SABC has the free-to-air rights. We only sold the two matches against Brazil to SuperSport. Our TV rights are clear, there is the free-to-air package and there is the deal for satellite. The satellite deal can be sold to anyone who wants it, and there are no exclusivity or restrictions,” he added.
Hluyo refused to divulge the figure of the contracts but those in the know say that they are lucrative contracts that have come very handy for the national association.
In their last matches, Banyana were clobbered 3-0 and 6-0 by the Brazilians in the two-match series, and Safa are organising further matches against formidable opponents to prepare the South Africans for the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup, which will take place in Australia and New Zealand.
Banyana qualified for the World Cup by reaching the semifinals of the Wafcon, which they eventually won in Morocco.
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