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AfroSport has been explaining how it clinched the exclusive broadcasting rights for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, as Nigeria’s massive football-loving population gets set to enjoy Africa’s foremost football showpiece on television without paying for it, Completesports.com reports.
The race for the exclusive broadcasting rights of major tournaments is always fiercely contested, particularly among major broadcast giants. And When the news broke that Sub-Saharan Africa’s major broadcast powerhouse, DSTV/SuperSport, wouldn’t be airing the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Cote D’Ivoire, shockwaves reverberated through the spines of football fans across the continent.
Accessing all tournament matches would have been expensive, but given the significance of the event, many football fans in Nigeria were willing to pay the price.
Little did Nigerian fans know that AfroSport had been fighting on their behalf for over two months to bring all the matches to their television screens for free.
Also Read: NBC Raises Alarming Concerns Over AFCON 2023 Broadcast Rights Violations
AfroSport secured the rights to broadcast all tournament matches through New World TV, the new broadcast powerhouse that acquired exclusive rights from CAF. This move aligns with AfroSport’s commitment to ensuring major sporting events are not only enjoyed but also contribute to social development.
In a Thursday press conference in Lagos, chaired by AfroSport Chief Consultant, Mr. Rotimi Pedro, AfroSport exclusively shared its mission and vision beyond AFCON 2023 with the media. Others present included AfroSport Content Consultant, Mr. Deji Omotoyinbo and Executive Director of DAAR Communications, Mr. John Uwarie .
“We are here today to make an announcement as to where and how Nigerians would be able to consume their passion, which is the football matches of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, without paying for it.
“At AfroSports, the ethos of our existence itself is in our payoff line, and suggests that we champion the freedom of sports, meaning that we believe quite strongly that every premium sport should be available on free TV. We believe that you don’t have to pay a subscription before you can consume premium sports. And why we’ve done that for 25 years or 30 years now is to bring the biggest sports tournaments to free TV without viewers having to pay N17,000 every month to watch the next Okocha play for Nigeria,” Pedro told journalists in his opening speech.
“We believe also that there’s a strong connection between free sports on TV and the growth and development of sports in general. There is a connection between sports being available and consumed freely, and the motivation to go out there and practice what you see on TV. We don’t believe, particularly in a developing economy like Africa, that people should be paying to consume sports. It’s even more important, it’s even more delicate when you consider that even in developed markets like Europe, the games of the Euros are available on free TV, even though it’s 50%.”
“In the UK, for example, all the games of the Euros football tournament are available on free TV, all the games of the FA Cup are available on free TV. There’s a reason for that – reason is to develop the next generation of people that will take up the sport, as opposed to keeping it exclusively on Sky TV.”
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Pedro criticised a situation where premium sport is only available on pay TV on the African continent. He underlined AfroSport’s belief that premium sports should be accessible on free TV, emphasising that sports can be a tool for social development, inspiring young athletes to pursue their dreams.
“What has been happening in Africa, especially in Nigeria whether by default, is to keep premium sports that should motivate the next generation of athletes on a premium platform accessible to only 4% of the population of the country. That is not good for development. So we at AfroSport pride ourselves on the fact that we bring premium sport to the widest possible audience for free. We have been championing that fight for the last 25 years and we will continue to do that in the Africa Cup of Nations this year, it’s no different. We have done the same thing over and over again and want to retain the premium sports on free TV. That’s the reason why we’re here.”
Pedro revealed how long and hard it has taken AfroSport to secure the broadcast rights for the 2023 AFCON. “It’s been a battle for the last two months to make sure the rights holders respect the law of the land in terms of keeping free sports. First of all, it was 29 matches that we got but we fought and fought and we’ve now got the whole 52 matches on free TV. We’ve got it now. And we’re here to announce that the African Cup of Nations will be available on free TV across the free-to-air broadcasters in the country.
“We partner with the Nigerian Television Authority, NTA. We partner with AIT, Silverbird and TVC, as well as 20 other BON (Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria) members that will deliver the signals of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations to the widest possible audience in Nigeria.
“We believe it’s the start of a new beginning for sports broadcasting in Nigeria. We are practically demonstrating the first test case of how sports acquisition should be conducted henceforth.
“There’s been so much noise around who has the rights and who hasn’t got the rights for the 2023 AFCON. But we believe that we are clearing that up bit by bit. I want to repeat it here to Nigerians that the broadcast rights is with AfroSport and the matches will be available on your TV without you paying a subscription. That’s the thrust of this press conference.
“We believe, particularly when the national team is playing, that it must be classed as an event of national importance. And we believe the regulators recognise that as well, in terms of, we don’t have to pay a subscription to see the Super Eagles play. That’s the reason why we have championed this battle.”
Pedro hopes this marks a new beginning for sports broadcasting in Nigeria, urging broadcast regulators to strictly enforce laws to ensure free access to live sports.
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In closing, he emphasised the need to make sports content free for all and called on regulators to enforce the law allowing all sport-loving Nigerians access to live sports without payment.
“We are hoping that the fight between pay TV and free TV would qualify as justified,” he said. “It’s just a question of enforcing the law. The laws are there for the regulator to play a role and to say this is what needs to be done for the future, for the guy on the street; I mean, for the generality of the average Nigerians, not just for the ‘class Nigerians’ who can pay a subscription.
“We only have 4.2 million pay TV homes in this country, but there are 32 million television homes who cannot afford pay TV. I repeat, there are only 4.2 million homes in terms of those paying subscription,” Pedro reiterated.
He added: “So how can we justify a situation where we keep the Super Eagles on 4.2 million pay TV boxes when there are 32 million homes without a decoder? Nigerians should be able to just put on their TV antennas outside their homes and watch the national team play. That’s the fight that we champion. And I’m proud to say that I champion this personally – it has been my legacy for the past 20 years to retain free sports, to put premium sports or free TV for the next generation of Nigerians. Thank you very much.”
AfroSport will broadcast all 52 matches of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations from January 13 to February 11, 2024. Matches will be available on NTA Sports, AIT, Silverbird Television, TVC, Wazobia TV, and Free TV Channel 730 among others.
By Ayomide Matthew
5 Comments
Thank you Afrosport
Other African countries that will broadcast should also be celebrating or explaining how they got free to air rights to show their people Afcon. I feel sorry for Nigerians because it’s been a long time they have been starving you people unfairly of your rights. South Africa and Ghana always broadcast Caf competitions be it u17 to senior team matches of their team and other African teams free to their viewers on their regular TVs. So all these long explanations or claims of pulling stunts to get rights no even make sense. If we talk them go say na everything we dey talk….
Thank you Afrosport. Next is to wrest EPL, La Liga, and Serie A from the incredibly greedy and shylock DSTv/SuperSport monopoly. And start showing NPFL and CAF Champions League games as well. Multichoice/DSTv/SuperSport has so commercialized EPL, FIFA and CAF tournaments in Nigeria and made it an exclusive right to the highest bidders and the stupid Nigerian govt is quiet.
I always tell their customer reps on phone whenever they call me that if I dey information ministry today, DSTv won’t breathe. I will so suffocate you guys while giving all the privileges to a rival local brand.
So these guys are the brains behind New World TV? No wonder cos I was like what pedigree does Togo have in FIFA/CAF broadcast rights acquisition that an outfit there is outbidding established brands on the continent like DSTv/SuperSport?
Deji Omotoyinbo and the other guys in Afrosports were also behind the defunct HiTV before DSTv killed the competition by offering the English FA a humongous bid for EPL exclusive broadcast rights for sub-Sahara Africa the following year after HiTV won it. Then they passed on the cost to Nigerian/African subscribers by hiking subscription fees. Meanwhile, HiTV had only acquired rights for the Nigerian airspace only o, but the Nigerian market was too juicy for DSTv to miss. The other countries in Africa were not enough for them. Talk about MONOPOLY of the highest order.
Now, the Afrosports guys must have decided to start off their competition from Togo cos the country offered a better business environment compared to the selfish conditions the corrupt and analog Nigerian civil service would have handed down to them. Maybe they then carried their kaya and went to Togo for serious business.
But they need to apply for a license for and float their own HD satellite broadcasting studio, even if in/from Togo – beyond the free streaming on the web they’re currently doing. Cos all these NTA, AIT, etc with stunted growth are not HD and people won’t want to hurt their eyes straining at the screen for 90 minutes. Multichoice/DSTv still has far superior equipment and structure. Afrosports needs massive government support and investors.
Thank you Afrosport! You guys are doing a great job for the real masses. God bless your organization and keep you going from strength to strength. Thank you.