SABC and MultiChoice disagree over Cricket World Cup sub-licencing rights
If the two parties cannot come to an agreement, the vast majority of South Africans will miss out on watching the Proteas at the showpiece event in India.
JOHANNESBURG - MultiChoice and the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) have reached another
impasse, this time over the sub-licencing rights to broadcast the Cricket World Cup starting this week.
The satellite television provider says the public broadcaster rejected their proposal for the sub-license rights due to the proposed licence fee. They went further to express their disappointment at the rejection as they had offered a deal on what they say are significantly reduced commercial terms.
If the two parties cannot come to an agreement, the vast majority of South Africans will miss out on watching the Proteas at the showpiece event in India.
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The current situation is reminiscent of the deadlock in September when the SABC refused to pay MultiChoice R37.7 million for the rights to broadcast all the Springboks’ games from the ongoing Rugby World Cup.
This was ultimately resolved South African Breweries, Hollywoodbets and insurance provider Pineapple paid an estimated R58 million for the SABC to obtain sub-licence rights.
The ODI World Cup will begin on Thursday with a repeat of the 2019 final between England and New Zealand. The Proteas’ first game is on Saturday, 7 October 2023, against Sri Lanka.
