In a move that could bring Ghanaian football back to the screens of fans across the country, the Minister of Sports and Recreation Kofi Adams, is considering negotiating with SuperSport to provide coverage for the local leagues.
This development was revealed by Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga, who stated, “The Minister of Sports and Recreation has revealed to me that he is looking to negotiate with SuperSport and others to begin covering our local leagues.”
This news comes at a time when the Ghana Premier League, the flagship league competition of the country, is without a broadcast partner—a situation that has forced the FA to resort to a free-air TV production.
Despite reports that giants StarTimes has renegotiated a deal to return as broadcaster for the Premier League, no official announcement has been made by the Ghana Football Association (GFA).
While it remains uncertain whether the league will have a broadcast partner for the remainder of the season, sources close to the GFA indicate that the association is determined to reach a deal with a broadcast partner to provide coverage for the league next season.
The South African TV broadcasting company opted not to renew Broadcast Rights Agreement for the Ghana Premier League after contract expired at the end of the 2015/2016 season following a 3-year partnership in building, investing in and growing the sport of football in Ghana.
“Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end at some point. SuperSport will continue to support the development of other sports disciplines in Ghana and wishes the Ghana Football Association (GFA) the best in their future endeavours,” says Cecil Sunkwa-Mills, the General Manager of Multichoice Ghana said in 2016.
“Having sponsored the Ghana Premier League over the last three years, SuperSport has worked very closely with the GFA, various football clubs, coaches, administrators and media in building and promoting the Ghanaian football league and industry across Ghana, Africa and the world.
“We’re proud and honoured to have been able to expose our local football teams and talented players to the rest of the continent on our SuperSport channels, the professionalism instilled in local team administration, improvement in the production of football matches aired on SuperSport and spectator discipline at the numerous league centres.
“We’d like to reassure our valued sports fans in Ghana that SuperSport will continue to invest in quality sport in order to provide DStv subscribers with the most exciting and competitive tournaments on the continent as well as internationally.
“This includes La Liga Santander. the Premier League, the UEFA Champions League, the Europa League, the FA Cup, the German Cup, FA Cup, the Europa SuperCup, the Spanish SuperCup, Formula 1, the world biggest Tennis tournaments, Golf majors, Moto GP and other major sporting events”.
If the current talks become successful, it would bring much-needed exposure and revenue to the league, and provide fans with the opportunity to watch their favorite teams in action.
