Dynamos vs Motor Action to be beamed live on SuperSport
By Robson Sharuko
Zimbabwe’s Premier Soccer League will break new ground today with the first live transmission of a local top-flight match to large parts of Africa on three SuperSport channels. This brings closer PSL’s multi-million-dollar television rights deal that could revolutionise a national game rich in talent, but terribly short on funding.
The blockbuster Castle Lager Premiership showdown between champions Motor Action and giants Dynamos, at Rufaro this afternoon, will earn its place in the history books as the first local top-flight league match to be televised live on pay-per-view television giant SuperSport. South African viewers will be able to watch the match live on the SuperSport 3, the flagship football channel on Dstv, which is usually reserved for the English Premiership, Spanish La Liga and German Bundesliga matches.
Viewers in other African countries, who get their feed from SuperSport International, will watch the match live on either SuperSport 9 or SuperSport 10 for those with Dstv Compact Plus. A live studio discussion, related to the match, will start at 2:45pm today with the game getting underway at exactly 3pm and the broadcast ending at 5pm. PSL chairman Twine Phiri last night said everything was ready for the historic occasion and appealed to the fans to pack Rufaro to capacity and turn the occasion into a colourful festival.
“We have secured all the clearances from the relevant authorities and it’s game on tomorrow (today) and the SuperSport OB van from Zambia and all the technical personnel are already here and we are hopeful that everything will sail smoothly,” said Phiri.
“This is just the start of a process that we hope will culminate in SuperSport acquiring the television rights for our Premiership, just like what they have done in South Africa, Zambia, Angola, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria and Ghana, which has transformed the game in those countries.
“We have been fighting for a future where Premiership football will bankroll the operational costs of the teams involved in that league and we are confident that if we strike a deal with SuperSport, it could signal the beginning of the end of funding challenges for our clubs.
“My appeal to the fans is for them to come in big numbers because a capacity crowd will send the right signal that we have a product that deserves to be supported by a company like SuperSport and this appeal is not only for Dynamos and Motor Action supporters, but to everyone who loves football in this country.” The arrival of SuperSport usually means clubs in the top-flight league also get monthly grants, for their upkeep, which wipes away the burden of having to foot bills associated with running the clubs.
SuperSport’s financial muscle has revolutionised Super Diski and turned it from the 50th richest league in the world, not so long ago, into the seventh richest league on the globe today that dwarfs all the other top-flight leagues on the continent. This year, SuperSport signed a R2 billion deal with the South African Premiership, giving the clubs their financial weight, which enables them to get the best talent that emerges from this country.
SuperSport also have a deal, worth approximately US$10 million and spread over five years, with the Kenyan Premier League while they also ventured into the Uganda Premier League this year with a US$5 million deal. SuperSport have also heavily invested in the Zambian Super Division, which is also bankrolled by MTN, while a lot of money has also been poured into the Angolan top-flight league.
Zimbabwean clubs have been crying for such a partnership, saying it will not only slash the costs of running their entities but will also help them invest in their best players, helping to keep them on the home front rather than seeing them being lured by teams in the region. SuperSport are also set to broadcast live the Mbada Diamonds Cup final, ironically featuring the two Harare teams, at Rufaro on November 27.
