image credit – ESPN images
Econet Media has entered into another sports content agreement, this time with the National Football League (NFL) to become the exclusive linear TV broadcaster for the NFL in 19 countries (Zimbabwe’s included) in Sub-Saharan Africa.
This arrangement covers live games and will start at the beginning of the 2016- 2017 season.
Just like the NBA deal, Econet Media will also play a role in promoting the sport, in this case, American Football, in Africa.
The deal was brokered by ESPN Media Distribution – the company that handles global content distribution for the sports entertainment giant ESPN.
The coverage will include selected free to air content games, five live games per week during the regular NFL season including Thursday Night Football, three games every Sunday, Monday Night Football, as well as every game of the NFL playoffs and the annual Super Bowl.
As Econet’s Kwesé TV build up to its official launch, it has been closing several content deals and most of them have been focused on sports content.
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9 comments
lol!! why not get the NHL as well? sooo relevant to an African audience!
I wonder who exactly is coming up with all these crappy ideas….first it was Formula E Racing and now NFL? no one gives two shits about these programs!!! Who exactly are you trying to compete with Econet…. Wiztech??
There is a reason real football is popular in the US, people want to watch their favourite sports without being converted to sports they don’t like. People in Zimbabwe/Africa want to watch football. rEal football not this perversion of rugby. We want EPL, Laliga, Serie A, League A, Bundesliga, UEFA Champions league, Dembare, etc
Who the hell is going to be watching the NFL crap with their silly costumes and chest bumping. More people watch Netball in this country than the NFL. I am not subscribing to this rubbish.
*is not popular*
maybe people dont watch it coz there is no way to watch it, given the choice many will begin to watch it, exposure
We will see about that won’t we.
I’m sure they’re doing this for marketing purposes only….. if they could include all good channels only then their marketing campaign would probably go like “Have access to 5 world class channels” but because of moves like this, they’ll be able to say “Have access to more than 200 world class channels on your mobile device” knowing fully well that ¾ of those channels will just be crap but hey.. 200 channels sounds better than 5 right?
I think this might be what they are thinking except the ones they really want to impress are the league executives who handle broadcast rights. When the exclusive DSTV deals come up for grabs, Kwese will have a tangible position built on these seemingly pointless content deals to negotiate from. Even more so if they can somehow make the likes of NFL big in Africa
okay, maybe one day kwese tv will be an awesome service. maybe that day, i will get rid of my beloved explora.
For now, dstv’s getting my moolah.