Dr Dish Tables $3.5 Million Offer For Zim PSL Rights

According to the Herald today Dr. Dish has submitted a $3.5 million bid to acquire the PSL’s top-flight broadcasting rights. This comes after the PSL’s 5-year partnership with Supersport ended recently. Apparently, the $3.5m is believed to be higher than the ended Supersport deal.

The article says the PSL will get a $750 000 payout every year for these rights.

In terms of why DR Dish is bidding for soccer rights, the article quotes an unnamed source (who is probably just Dr Dish themselves):

The leadership at Dr Dish believe interest in Zimbabwean football is very high throughout the country with thousands, if not millions, of people following what happens at our stadiums every weekend with religious interest.

They believe, if well-packaged, and with a lot of matches being covered, there is a market out there that has an appetite for content that is generated from the local Premier League and which a lot of people want to see on their televisions at home, in the bars or in the offices.

Of course, the decision rests with the PSL leaders and let’s see how it pans out but clearly this is far more money, which has been put on the table, than what the PSL were getting from their previous deal with SuperSport.

We have no idea how much the PSL was getting from the Supersport deal (if you do please comment) so it’s hard to gauge if this is a good or not. We are not sure just how many broadcasters are interested in securing these rights.

If Kwese is officially not interested, then it comes down to 2 other players; ZBC and Supersport. How much are they prepared to pay for these rights?

Is Dr Dish looking to outdo Kwese with this move?

The offer was reportedly tabled on the 7th of February (interestingly just 2 days after Kwese announced they weren’t interested in the rights).Will acquiring these rights really entice customers into signing up for Dr Dish when they launch? I highly doubt so and personally think Dr Dish is trying to garner favor with the public and embrace the league that was recently shunned by Kwese. Whether this favor will translate into actual sales is yet to be seen.

Dr Dish was in bed with Kwese but that relationship ended on a sour note apparently due to Dr Dish’s political ties that were not in line with Econet’s vision. Econet – and thus Kwese by association – would rather distance themselves from any political issues.

Anyway…

I could be wrong and Dr Dish could just be willing to supporting our local sports. If this is the case, I think it is a positive step that will hopefully inspire other players in the broadcasting field in future. At the end of the day, it might not even matter what Dr Dish’s intentions are as the PSL – and hopefully, the players – just stands to benefit either way.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this move by Dr Dish. Let’s engage in the comments below!