Africa’s leading pay TV operator, StarTimes Group, on Tuesday signed a
ground-breaking media agreement with Ghana Football Association (GFA),
vowing to promote the influence of Ghana Premier League in Sub-Sahara
Africa and help the development of Ghanaian football in the coming
decade.
According to the strategic partnership
agreement, StarTimes acquires all media rights of The Ghana
Premier
League, The Gala, The National Division One League, The Football
Association Cup, The Ghana Women’s League and The Ghana Juvenile League
in next 10 years.
StarTimes will invest more on programming
production of Ghana Premier League and broadcast more matches of the
league in Ghana and other African countries.
President of StarTimes Group, Pang
Xinxing, told reporters on the signing ceremony: “The partnership
between StarTimes and Ghana Football Association is not only the
cooperation between the two sides, but also a starting of cooperation
between China and Africa on football industry.”
Pang noted that Ghana football has stayed
at a high level in world football by playing at World Cup finals three
times in succession and winning African Cup of Nations four times.“We
would like to bring more excellent football matches to nearly nine
million subscribers of StarTimes in Africa and may introduce Ghana
Premier League to Chinese football fans in the future, being a bridge
between Chinese and African sports industries. ”
“StarTimes is a world brand and
well-known in the whole Africa. Ghana football is also a well-known
brand and our national team is one of strongest powers in Africa,” said
President of Ghana Football Association, Kwesi Nyantakyi, noting that
the partnership between StarTimes and Ghana Football Association is
looking forward to improving development of football in Ghana.
Nyantakyi said: “We authorise media
rights of all major leagues or tournaments under Ghana Football
Association to StarTimes. And StarTimes will deeply involve itself in
the production and promotion of these leagues and bring much investment
to our country.”
StarTimes is an experienced TV operator
in football broadcasting. In 2015, StarTimes signed an exclusive
broadcasting contract with Bundesliga and the International Champions
Cup (ICC) for five successive years, and got the wide rights to televise
the French Ligue 1, and the Italian Serie A, for all Sub-Saharan
countries.
In June 2016, StarTimes also signed an
exclusive broadcasting contract with the Chinese Super League for three
successive years and acquired media rights to provide extensive coverage
in Sub-Saharan Africa to the European Qualifiers for 2018 FIFA World
Cup Russia.
“StarTimes’ experience and advantage in broadcasting technology will bring Ghana’s football to a new age,” Nyantakyi noted.
StarTimes attached great importance to
African native sports content and have sponsored SC Villa and KCCA FC
clubs in Uganda football league. In February 2015, StarTimes signed
world football icon and Nigeria football legend, Kanu Nwankwo as their
Continental Brand Ambassador. As StarTimes Ambassador, Kanu is engaged
in a series of football promotion events in Africa.
Pang said: “The Ghana Premier League is
the first top African native league that StarTimes signs and people can
expect more in the future.”
Source: This Day
Comments