No PSL-SuperSport collision on the cards
League enjoys unqualified support from sportscaster
● While the big international leagues are worried about being indebted to broadcasters in the event of not finishing their seasons, the Premier Soccer League (PSL) has no such worries as it enjoys unqualified support from SuperSport International.
Should they fail to complete the season before the end of July, the English Premier League faces the prospect of entering into an ugly legal battle with Sky Sports and BT Sport, their broadcast partners.
The Premier League broadcasting deal is reportedly worth £3bn over three seasons. Sky Sports and BT Sport have a rights share of 128 and 52 live matches respectively.
With football suspended owing to the coronavirus pandemic, the Daily Mail this week reported that the broadcasters could fine the clubs about £750m should they fail to complete the season.
Sources who spoke to the Sunday Times on condition of anonymity said no such disagreement is on the horizon for the SA
The PSL is an extremely important partner of ours and as such, we will never let them drown
league, who have SuperSport International as their main broadcast partner.
The two entities entered into a R2bn partnership for five years in 2012.
Last year the deal was renewed for a further five years, but figures were not disclosed.
It is clear that if the league were to end abruptly in England, the clubs would owe a lot of money to broadcasters.
When asked whether they will keep the PSL alive even when there were no games played, the one source said there has been no discussion on the matter.
“There is no decision that has been taken about how things will pan out contractually. I can tell you that the PSL is an extremely important partner of ours and, as such, we will never let them drown.
“I don’t know how the PSL would like to close it (the 2019-20 season) off. If the premise of your question is ‘will we stand by the PSL,’ the answer is yes.
“It does not matter whether we close the season or not,” he said.
The current campaign was suspended indefinitely on March 16.
At the time, the PSL issued a statement, part of which targeted the end of June for the completion of the season.
“Whilst our intention is to complete the season by no later than June 30 2020 because of the existing uncertainties in our country, we shall remain flexible.”
PSL chairperson Irvin Khoza told the Sunday Times last week that the league has deferred discussions on the way forward to April 21, by which time they will meet the South African Football Association (Safa), football’s mother body in the country.
Matters have been compounded by President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to extend the national lockdown until the end of April.
Another source was reluctant to get into details when asked how the SuperSport business was being hit by the lack of live local football action.
“It would be in our interest to stay with the PSL for however long this situation goes on,” said the source.
Joe Heshu, Multichoice group executive of corporate affairs, said the organisation would not engage in a public discussion on contractual issues.
“We do have a long-standing relationship with all local sporting federations and we are all working together to get through this Covid-19 period.
“But we will not discuss rights and contractual issues in the media at this stage,” said Heshu yesterday.
When the season was halted, Kaizer Chiefs were top of the log on 48 points after 22 matches of a 30-match league programme, four points ahead of the reigning champions Mamelodi Sundowns, who were occupying second spot with one game in hand.
In Belgium, the Pro League crowned Percy Tau’s Club Brugge the league champions as they led the standings by 15 points with one match to go.
There’s a strong sentiment that the Premier League should follow suit and award Liverpool the title.
Jurgen Klopp’s Reds are 25 points ahead of second-placed defending champions Manchester City.