Concern over the elitist nature of pay TV was the gist of reactions on Friday to an exclusive broadcast deal between SuperSport and the Premier Soccer League (PSL).
The furore was described by the PSL as ”a mountain manufactured out of a molehill”, as 140 games would be sold to free-to-air broadcasters.
PSL chairperson Irvin Khoza announced the R1-billion deal on Thursday following a lengthy dispute with the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), which has had the rights since the PSL’s inception nine seasons ago.
In reaction, various parties said soccer is a nationally important sport with millions of fans.
”How, then, can the PSL justify awarding this contract to a channel … subscribed to by only 9% of South Africans?” asked the Freedom of Expression Institute. ”This effectively privatises soccer so that its access will be mainly to the elite in our country.”
The South African Communist Party echoed this, saying the deal was ”tantamount” to privatisating televised soccer. ”This decision by the PSL is also an act of continuing enrichment of the very same old white capitalist class which owns SuperSport, now joined by a handful of black elites, directly at the expense of the overwhelming majority of our people.”
Most people cannot afford pay-TV and would be denied live television coverage of the sport, said the African National Congress. ”If pursued, this decision is likely not only to disadvantage millions of soccer lovers, but also to have a negative effect on the standing and popularity of the PSL.”
Congress of South African Trade Unions spokesperson Patrick Craven said the federation is ”appalled and angry” at the deal. It would deprive millions ”the opportunity to watch their favourite sport”.
The Communication Workers’ Union said awarding of the deal ”pending the finalisation of the arbitration process” cast doubt on PSL management’s integrity and showed ”management had lost touch with reality”.
However, PSL chief operations officer Ronald Schloss on Friday described the furore over the deal as ”a mountain manufactured out of a molehill”.
”The ill-founded assumption that viewing PSL games on TV will now be beyond the finances of the vast majority of South Africa’s millions of soccer fans is simply way off target,” said Schloss.
”Indeed,” he added, ”the exact opposite is the case, with the PSL’s contract with SuperSport stipulating that they must sell a minimum of 140 games to broadcasters operating on a free-to-air television basis.”
Schloss said the South African Broadcasting Corporation had shown little more than 100 TV games live to the South African public last season — ”so, in effect,” he added, ”there will be a lot more free TV soccer viewing for the public than ever before.”
On Thursday, SABC chief executive Dali Mpofu said a dispute between the PSL and the SABC was still under arbitration, and the SuperSport deal could be declared void if the SABC was successful. — Sapa