DStv made a one-and-a-half hour song and dance to unveil themselves as the new anchor sponsor of the Premier Soccer League (PSL).
Former minister of sport Fikile Mbalula would not have perambulated on the outskirts of veracity in describing the Thursday night live production of the christening of DStv Premiership as a razzmatazz.
PSL chairperson Irvin Khoza confirmed what this newspaper reported back in June, that DStv would replace Absa as sponsors of SA's elite football division.
Iron Duke's delight
But the Iron Duke was thin on detail, save for expressing his delight at the fusion of football with entertainment provided by the multiple platforms of MultiChoice, the parent company of SuperSport and DStv.
No information of the breakdown of value of the five-year partnership. No explanation of the prize money. No illumination in relation to what innovations, if any bells and whistles at all, the new sponsor will bring on board. "All those details are a football matter which we have left to the PSL to decide upon," disclosed a high-ranking official of the Randburg-based pay-TV company.
On Tuesday, the PSL will have an executive committee meeting. "We have not determined any prize money yet," said a PSL executive committee member, adding "that is one of the issues, among others, that will be on the table on Tuesday".
Fixtures for the 2020-21 season and determining the date of the start of the new season will be part of the deliberations.
Details of those deliberations will be brought to the public domain on Wednesday when Khoza convenes a press conference where he would be expected to expand on the nitty gritty of the deal.
The MultiChoice-PSL partnership is not a new dawn per se, but a continuation of a relationship that has been in existence since 2007 when SuperSport paid a mega-money R1-bn to acquire PSL broadcast rights.
That broadcast deal massively improved the PSL's financial position and its continued renewal provides the backbone for financial sustenance.
The PSL's reliance on revenue received from the sale of broadcasting rights trickles to clubs by way of monthly grants without which clubs would be unable to meet their financial operational obligations.
The advent of Covid-19 sharply brought the point home. The grants sustained the clubs when soccer was suspended for five months with the country on hard lockdown.
Furthermore, the PSL's commercial stature has risen to rank in the top 10 football leagues in the world. Its content has expanded to pan-African audiences. Its exposure has expanded across the continent and the ability of the PSL to attract players from other countries, thus enhancing the quality of the PSL.
The attraction of the league has been such that big-name players such as Benni McCarthy, Kermit Erasmus and Andile Jali, to name but three, were able to return from plying their trade abroad and find competitive salaries in the PSL. The MultiChoice Diski Challenge is the PSL reserve league which serves as a stage for players under 21 to showcase their skills.
Club owners contacted by the Sunday Times described the DStv deal as a "perfect fit" and praised SuperSport for not leaving the PSL in the lurch during trying times.
Companies were going under
"Listen, we are now in a position to retain our star players. As you know, that increases competitiveness among the clubs in the league," said one club owner.
"When we were not playing," added another, "there were no matches for them to broadcast. We were not providing them with any content, but they never left."
The broadcast money really runs the league and "it was the most difficult time in all my life in football", said a third.
"Everybody was worried about how we would survive. Everywhere you looked companies were going under. But these guys stayed with us because of the confidence in the leadership of the PSL."
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