The Premier League announced that Econet Media has acquired the package of free-to-air broadcasting rights that it makes available in sub-Saharan Africa. The agreement is for the three seasons '16-17 to '18-19 and Econet, through its Kwese Sports platform will make available one Saturday afternoon Premier League match live on a free-to-air basis each weekend of the season. The matches, along with weekly preview and review shows, will be available in 50 countries across the region (Premier League).
PUNDIT MOVES: Former champion jockey John Francome, "widely regarded as the best TV racing pundit," has turned down "a firm approach from ITV" to join its team when it takes over coverage from Channel 4 next year. Francome also "declined repeated attempts by IMG to sign him over the last four years" of its C4 production contract because of his "strong loyalty" to C4's long-time racing production partners, Highflyer. Francome's decision not to continue when C4 revamped its racing in '13 was a "major reason IMG's programming was never fully accepted." That led to ITV "winning the contract" from '17 (London DAILY MAIL, 3/16). ... Franz Beckenbauer has "asked to be released early from his television commentator's contract." Sky Germany said that it "accepted the request with regret" and that the Champions League match between Bayern Munich and Juventus on Wednesday was Beckenbauer's "last as commentator for the network." Sky quoted Beckenbauer as saying that he "wanted a break after being a public figure for more than 50 years" (AP, 3/17). ... Former NHL player Peter Forsberg has joined Discovery Networks Sweden and Eurosport as an expert commentator. Forsberg, who competed in four Olympic Games as a player and led the Swedish national team to two Gold Medals, will make his TV debut for the sports destination at the Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang in '18. As a player in the NHL, Forsberg won the Stanley Cup twice with the Colorado Avalanche. In '03 he was awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy as MVP and in '14 he was inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto (Discovery).
CANADA: TSN announced a new partnership with Sky Sports that provides Canadians with Sky Sports' broadcast coverage of the F1. As part of the new partnership, TSN will deliver expanded pre-race and post-race coverage for all 21 races on the F1 calendar -- added on top of the network's existing practice and qualifying coverage. Fans will have access to the following new content: lead-in coverage, race coverage and post-race coverage. The coverage begins Friday with the Australian Grand Prix (TSN).
MEDIA BRIEFS ...
Sports news video agency SNTV launched SNTV Brand Solutions, a "new division dedicated to helping brands create authentic and relevant sports news video to achieve their content marketing goals." SNTV's presence covers "more than 40 different sports across the globe, as well as extensive coverage of the world’s biggest events including UEFA Euro 2016 in France and this summer’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro." The new unit "is being led by Niaz Samadizadeh who has joined SNTV from Edelman," where he was head of sponsored content, having previously been head of creative solutions at CNBC (ADVANCED TELEVISION, 3/17).
England has already claimed this year’s Six Nations title and the club is the top dog "in the social media stakes as well, as a recent study has shown." The analysis, which was conducted by Irish marketing firm Sportego, also shows that Ireland is in second place and has the "one million barrier on the main two social media channels with 525,795 followers on Facebook and 480,979 followers on Twitter." The Irish Rugby Football Union has "grown that following by almost 21 percent in the past six months" and the union’s Digital Marketing Manager Barry Cunningham is "pleased with the progress" (RUNNING RUGBY, 3/17).
Sports technology company Stats LLC partnered with Virtually Live to create a fully immersive viewing experience for fans. Stats and Virtually Live conducted successful trial tests of the Stats SportVU data by converting the raw X, Y data into a live virtual reality replica of Hampden Park during the Scottish League Cup final on March 12 and the Queen's Park match on March 16. An additional test will be held at Hampden Park with Queens Park on March 18 (Stats).
On April 4, Agence France-Presse will launch AFPTV Sports. It will be a video service “dedicated to sports news for the media: press conferences, training sessions, supporters, economic and social issues, court cases and technology.” This is a “timely offer” with two big sporting events in just a few months: Euro 2016 and the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games (TOPCOM, 3/16).
Vodafone Spain said that "it may take Telefonica to court if it is not able to screen Formula 1 and MotoGP when both sports commence their new seasons this weekend."
Vodafone Spain Dir of Legal & Regulatory Affairs Pedro Peña said that a complaint lodged over the matter with communications regulator CNMC in February "has gone unanswered" (TELECOM PAPER, 3/17).
