The deal announced by SABC earlier this year prior to the Africa Cup of Nations kicking off in Cote d'Ivoire could have an adverse effect on the public broadcaster's ongoing talks with the South African Football Association.
As previously reported by the Siya crew, the two parties have been locked in negations to renew a broadcast deal that ended in September over televising national team matches. SABC confirmed a big landmark by securing all 52 matches of the Afcon as well as CAF events for the 2024 season.
While it's believed discussions have not completely collapsed, this announcement now means the public broadcaster can access the qualifiers for major tournaments involving all SAFA-led teams. In December, on the back of their national executive meeting, CEO Lydia Monyepao spoke of the plan to unbundle the television rights in pursuit of more revenue.
The new development from SABC's side of things could force SAFA to think out of the box even more in the coming weeks. Monyepao had suggested there would be some sort of direction before the Christmas break regarding the way forward with the public broadcaster, but that is still not the case and their partners now have direct access to matches from the New World TV.
SABC have been paying SAFA an amount of R25 million per year since October 2019 when the previous deal was signed off. However, the Togolese powerhouse that has now secured CAF rights for the next three years offers an alternative.
