Proteas blackout: SABC won’t broadcast the India tour
Cricket SA said they received an offer from the SABC for the broadcast rights for proteas vs India clash at a massively discounted rate.
The SABC will not be broadcasting series between the Proteas and India which starts on Sunday 10 December.
Millions of cricket fans across the country will not be able to access the Proteas and India matches on SABC after Cricket South Africa and the SABC failed to reach an agreement over broadcasting rights yet again.
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In September, weeks before the start of the Rugby World Cup, the the national broadcaster announced they failed to aquire the rights to broadcast both the rugby and cricker World Cups.
The South African government had to intervene and eventually the SABC was able to broadcast the two tournaments to millions of people across the country.
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SABC AND CSA FAIL TO REACH AN AGREEMENT OVER PROTEAS INDIA TOUR RIGHTS
Here’s Cricket SA’s full statement:
“Cricket South Africa regrets to announce that it is unable to strike a deal with the SABC to broadcast the 2023/24 India Tour to South Africa on free-to-air television.
For the past few months CSA and the SABC have been involved in protracted negotiations on the free-to-air broadcast rights of the India tour, which are exclusively owned by CSA for the purpose of ensuring that cricket is accessible to the larger South African population.
On 29 November, CSA finally received an offer from the SABC for the broadcast rights at a massively discounted rate.
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In view of the significant audience the SABC enjoys, which meets CSA’s aim of growing cricket across all sectors of South African society, CSA was eager to ensure that the India tour was available on free-to-air TV.
CSA responded to the SABC six working days later on 7 December, accepting their offer in totality.
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Regrettably, hours after CSA’s full acceptance of their offer, the SABC informed CSA that they are unable to broadcast the India tour due to a withdrawal of potential sponsors.
The free-to-air rights remain available and should the SABC be able to attract sponsorship, CSA is willing to conclude an agreement which will ensure the India tour is enjoyed by millions of South Africans.”