South African football fans will now be able to watch the likes of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in some of the biggest Bundesliga games every Saturday for free via Openview!
Until now, only subscribers of pay TV broadcaster StarSat were able to watch Germany's top flight and its stars such as Robert Lewandowski, Marco Reus, Jadon Sancho, Philippe Coutinho and Timo Werner on South African television, but thanks to a new agreement between StarSat and eMedia, you can now also watch one game per week on Openview's e.tv and sports channel 120.
The first match that will be shown as part of the new free-to-air agreement, which runs until the end of the 2019/20 campaign, will be record champions Bayern Munich hosting Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday, at 19:30 SA time.
eMedia Investments and pay TV broadcaster StarSat are thrilled to announce a television partnership deal that sees eMedia becoming the official and exclusive Bundesliga free-to-air broadcaster in South Africa, for the remainder of the 2019/20 Bundesliga season.
eMedia Investments are the owners of free-to-air TV station e.tv, satellite platform offering Openview, and SA's most-watched 24-hour news channel eNCA.
As part of the partnership, Openview will regularly broadcast the Bundesliga match played on Saturdays at 19:30 SAST (17:30 GMT) live on its e.tv news and sports channel 120.
Football fanatics and fans will also be able to watch the weekly Bundesliga Preview and Highlight Shows as part of the deal.
This partnership gives South African football fans a new opportunity to regularly tune in to one of the planet's top football leagues. International superstars and numerous wonderkids are contributing to yet another high-scoring season – with the league recording the highest goals per game average out of all the top European leagues over the past 25 years.
Add in the renowned stadium atmospheres created by what is the highest stadium attendances in world football, unique clubs steeped in history, and one of the closest title races in recent years, there's a lot to look forward to over the coming Bundesliga season.
On Saturday, 30 November, at 19:30 SAST (17:30 GMT), Openview customers can enjoy the match between two of Germany's UEFA Champions League representatives. FC Bayern Munich, the most successful club in German football history with a record of 29 national titles, take on Bayer 04 Leverkusen live from the Allianz Arena.
"Our group of companies has had a phenomenal run in the past few months, and it brings us great joy to continue being a platform that offers a variety of sporting codes to its viewers. As the year winds down to a wrap, we want to gift Openview fans a season filled with exciting content. We are proud to partner with StarSat and the Bundesliga for the rest of the 2019/20 football season to make Germany's top-tier league more accessible," Antonio Lee, Chief Operating Officer for eMedia, said.
StarSat has been the Official Broadcaster of the Bundesliga in sub-Saharan Africa since the 2015/16 season and, as such, is broadcasting all Bundesliga matches and comprehensive shoulder programming on its pay TV platform as well as its OTT App "StarTimes ON".
"StarSat has made our best effort to promote this partnership with eMedia on broadcasting Bundesliga Free-to-Air, as we believe it will give South African football fans a new option to enjoy a top-class football league. It is also good for creating a more competitive environment in South African media sector which will finally benefit the content consumer," John Yan, CEO of StarSat, said.
South Africa has a rich history with the Bundesliga, with former Bafana Bafana internationals including Steven Pienaar (Borussia Dortmund), Delron Buckley (Bochum, Borussia Dortmund, Arminia Bielefeld Mainz 05), Bradley Carnell (Stuttgart) and Sibusiso Zuma (Arminia Bielefeld) all having played in Germany's top league.
