TV deal keeps cricket away from masses

Times Media

TELFORD VICE, Cape Town

SOUTH Africans will have to pay to watch cricket on television for at least another six years, although free-to-air channels will also get a look in.

That was the upshot of Cricket SA’s (CSA) announcement on Wednesday that they had renewed their contract with subscription service SuperSport. The new deal runs from May 1 to April 30, 2021.

SA’s home matches will still be shown on state channels but fans are likely to have to continue to cough up if they want to watch the team in action abroad. That’s despite the fact that the SA Broadcasting Corporation reaches far more viewers than SuperSport.

The domestic game also seems to be behind a paywall what with a CSA release saying the pay channel would “play a key role in promoting domestic and franchise cricket with an undertaking to cover a minimum of 60% of the ... T20 Challenge and ... One-Day Cup matches”.