Africa’s premier sports activities broadcaster SuperSport has had its sports activities rights acquisition choice moved from South Africa to France, following the acquisition of MultiChoice by Canal+ Group.
Softfootball deduced this from Oluwole Abegunde, a market analysis and technique chief with about twenty years of expertise serving to expertise companies like Microsoft, Amazon Net Providers, Google, Huawei, Ericsson, MTN Group, Airtel, Vodacom and Safaricom decode African markets and drive development. In line with his LinkedIn publish, he shared the next replace:
Following its $3 billion acquisition of MultiChoice, CANAL+ Group has moved SuperSport’s sports activities rights acquisition choice from South Africa to France, aiming to achieve higher management and drive price effectivity.
Centralising sports activities rights acquisition on the group allows Canal+ to barter international rights at scale, eradicate low-ROI content material, and focus capital on premium, high-demand sports activities content material that drives subscriptions and retention.
In that context, its latest exclusion of the Winter Olympics and the PDC World Darts Championship from SuperSport’s programming alerts content material prioritisation.
Not all sports activities content material contributes equally to ARPU, churn discount, or subscriber acquisition. Some serve passionate however slim audiences. Others anchor complete subscription fashions.
The fact is that sports activities broadcasting isn’t merely about buying rights; it’s extra about cultural understanding, viewers demand, and scheduling issues given time zone variations.
Now, timing can be crucial, as conventional pay-TV operators face rising strain from international streaming platforms which can be investing aggressively in high-demand premium sports activities content material, not only a plethora of sports activities bouquet choices.
In a market the place international streaming gamers equivalent to Netflix and Amazon Prime Video have deep monetary firepower, Canal+’s capital self-discipline turns into a strategic necessity.
I anticipate Canal+ to exclude extra area of interest sports activities content material in the long run, as it’s only a matter of time earlier than extra high-demand premium sports activities rights migrate to digital platforms. When that occurs, worth will drive subscriber retention, not quantity.”
Softfootball gathered that Groupe Canal+ efficiently acquired management of MultiChoice Group as of September 2025, creating a serious international media powerhouse with over 40 million subscribers throughout 70 international locations. The deal, valued at roughly US$1.9 billion, makes MultiChoice a subsidiary, with plans to delist from the Johannesburg Inventory Trade.
