- The SABC and SuperSport have reached an agreement regarding the sub-licensing of the 2023 Rugby World Cup broadcast rights.
- The SABC will broadcast 16 games from the tournament on SABC 2.
- Unfortunately, OVHD viewers won’t be able to watch the matches.
On the back of Minister of Sport, Arts, and Culture Zizi Kodwa’s urging the SABC and SuperSport to reach a deal where all South Africans can enjoy the 2023 Rugby World Cup, a deal has been reached, in principle.
That deal will see the SABC being granted a sub-license to broadcast 16 of the games including the games the Springboks will be playing.
“This agreement will unfortunately exclude OVHD (eMedia) platform because of the restrictive conditions that MultiChoice is placing on the sub-licensing agreement for the Free-to-Air rights for the RWC 2023,” writes the national broadcaster.
Despite this agreement, the SABC isn’t pleased about the condition that it cannot carry the matches on Openview claiming that 3.2 million South African households won’t be able to view the Springboks in the World Cup.
“The SABC hopes that in the interest of nation building and social cohesion, MultiChoice will remove this restrictive condition to enable all South Africans to get behind the Boks,” the SABC added.
The broadcaster says that partners Hollywoodbets and South African Breweries with Castle Lager helped to secure these broadcast rights.
According to MyBroadband, the games that will be broadcast on SABC include:
- France vs New Zealand – 21:15 on 8th September,
- South Africa vs Scotland – 17:45 on 10th September,
- South Africa vs Romania – 15:00 on 17th September,
- South Africa vs Ireland – 21:00 on 23 September,
- South Africa vs Tonga – 21:00 on 1st October,
- Two quarter finals,
- One semi final,
- Third place playoff,
- Final.
The games will be broadcast on SABC 2 as well as SABC’s streaming platform SABC Plus.
At least sports fans will have a free way to watch the national team compete with the world for a chance at defending the title of World Champions.
While the deal has been struck in principle, there are some factors that SABC is hoping will change especially the OVHD matter.
For now, 16 matches are all the SABC gets with DStv being the destination for those who want to watch every match of the tournament.
