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SA Rugby backs SABC in Boks blackout, but ordinary South Africans suffer

SA Rugby backs SABC in Boks blackout, but ordinary South Africans suffer
President of SA Rugby Mark Alexander. (Photo: Ashley Vlotman / Gallo Images)
Yanga Sibembe
By Yanga Sibembe
11 Jul 2024
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MultiChoice, the SABC and eMedia are embroiled in a battle of who can broadcast what and when, which has left many South Africans unable to watch the Springboks play Ireland in the two-Test series.

Just days before the Springboks took on Ireland in their first match since winning the 2023 World Cup, South Africa’s public broadcaster, the SABC, released a statement saying it would no longer show the game.

The announcement was met with dismay and disappointment.   

The SABC said: “This decision follows the recent urgent litigation at the Competition Appeal Court over the broadcast rights to the Test matches, which necessitated the SABC to review its decision to continue with the sub-licence agreement concluded with MultiChoice.”

SA Rugby has explained the impasse ahead of the second Test between the Boks and Ireland in Durban on Saturday, 13 July.  

boks tv blackout alexander President of SA Rugby Mark Alexander. (Photo: Ashley Vlotman / Gallo Images)



“To be clear, this is not a conflict between SuperSport (MultiChoice) and the SABC — they had a contract in place to broadcast the matches based on appropriate commercial terms,” said SA Rugby president Mark Alexander.

“It was the intervention of eMedia [commonly known as eTV] and its demand that [their Openview platform] be permitted to broadcast the rugby, without any financial contribution by eMedia, that put an end to this agreement.”

Competition Tribunal order


At the core of the issue is a six-month Competition Tribunal order effectively allowing eMedia to broadcast the SABC’s coverage of Springbok matches on its Openview platform without eMedia compensating the SABC, despite the SABC having paid MultiChoice for the broadcasting rights.

However, the Openview website says the free-to-view satellite television provider also carries the SABC networks as part of its everyday programming.

eMedia took legal action a few months ago, on the basis that MultiChoice prevents the SABC from broadcasting major sporting events that MultiChoice has sub-licensed to the public broadcaster. This is despite the agreement between SABC and eMedia under which eMedia also carries the SABC’s everyday television content on Openview.

In April, eMedia won the first battle in this content battle when the Competition Tribunal granted it interim relief, pending the final determination of its complaint to the commission.

The tribunal said the ruling would be relevant until it made a final decision — it has not yet done so — or for six months from its April judgment, pending a final decision.     

“MultiChoice, including its subsidiary SuperSport, and the SABC are interdicted from implementing and enforcing any restriction in the (existing) sub-licensing agreements entered into between them, in terms of which the SABC is prohibited from transmitting or making available the sub-licensed broadcasts of sports events on platforms owned or operated by eMedia through its Openview channel,” reads the ruling.

“MultiChoice, including its subsidiary SuperSport, and the SABC are further interdicted from including restrictions which prohibit the SABC from transmitting or making available sub-licensed broadcasts on platforms owned or operated by eMedia (through Openview) in future sub-licensing agreements concluded between them relating to the broadcasting of sporting events.” 

Money, money, money


SA Rugby said the ruling was unfair and undermined the long-term viability of rugby in SA as well as the sustainability of the union itself.

“eMedia is a well-funded private company that pays to create television content and purchases content from filmmakers and other broadcasters. It is absurd that they should be allowed to broadcast sport without contributing to its support and development,” said Alexander.

The federation further bemoaned the fact that it was excluded from the proceedings that resulted in the ruling, despite being directly affected by its outcome.

“eMedia’s attempts to put an end to exclusivity in sports broadcasting rights would slash the rights fees, with the sport itself suffering the most, severely impacting our programme delivery from the grassroots level to the back-to-back Rugby World Cup-winning Springboks,” the SA Rugby president said.

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) has previously tried to enter this battle. However, organisations including SA Rugby and the Premier Soccer League were defiant, pointing out that the bulk of their income came from broadcasting deals — with exclusivity being the primary hook.

In 2022, SA Rugby’s revenue was about R1.5-billion. Of that, R828-million was from broadcast revenue.  

Regardless, the fact that only a minority of South Africa’s population can watch a sports team which is said to unite the nation will leave a bitter taste in many mouths. DM    

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