BSA sign deal to get boxing back on TV, radio
Chair Jack wants sport to be the talk of town
Boxing SA chairperson Luthando Jack says signing the three-year deal with SABC this week left him shaking in excitement.
“It was an historic moment in our boxing in terms of the future of our beloved sport, so I was shaking when I signed the memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Wednesday,” he said.
The deal is aimed at bringing boxing back to national television and SABC radio. The national broadcaster will give BSA preferred dates on which it can show the events. A committee comprising representatives from both sides will be in charge of the dates and will screen applications and award dates to promoters who meet criteria.
SABC will then pay promoters for their content. It was announced in February that the plan was to have 24 dates this year, 36 in 2023 and 54 in 2024.
“The signing is signification for our resolve as the board to rebuild the sport and take it back to common men and women in the streets. It is about reclaiming and centralising boxing into the national psychology as the talk of town, villages and busses.
“This is a connector of human beings – one of many shapers of lives of our people as it represents an opportunity to showcase the abundance of talent. It is about enhancing the profile of our champions so that they are known and celebrated,” said Jack.
“It is also about catalysing the return of sponsors into the sport of boxing because they have an opportunity for their business to be profiled and advertised. It presents SABC the opportunity to expand their sport audiences as well as their fairly new channel. It is also ensuring that the boxer benefits, and it presents challenges to promoters who must put together excellent tournaments.”
Jack insisted that promoters will be allocated dates to provinces based on their professionalism in terms of business plans. “We are elated by this historic achievement,” he said in his parting shot.