DSTV are the new title sponsors of South Africa’s top-tier league, Premier Soccer League, Ducor Sports can reveal.
Following the deal, the topflight league will now be referred to as the DSTV Premiership after the leading Sub-Saharan Africa direct broadcast service provider MultiChoice signed the deal.
The new announcement follows the end of previous sponsorship by Absa, who in 2007 signed a deal which ended in June this year.
The value and the period of the contract has however not been revealed but sources indicate that it could be worth millions of dollars.
Speaking after the signing of the deal, MultiChoice Group CEO, Calvo Mawela said that he believes the deal between DStv and the Premier Soccer League speaks to the essence of who and what the two organisations represent.
“The DStv Premiership is the coming together of two brands that connect South Africans emotionally”, said Mawela.
“Whether you are watching the best of local football or the best local entertainment, the passion for both is unmatched.”
PSL chairman Dr Irvin Khoza said the partnership with DSTV is a natural evolution to the relationship and will be a powerful synergy, in what it brings for the football supporters.
“As the PSL continues to innovate with a quest to improve its product, it will have a full backing of DStv, whose offering requires an abundance of local content. There is no “them and us,” said Dr Khoza.
“We are joined at the hip to produce enhanced consumption of the best product for our deserving supporters.
Khoza called football followers in the country and emerging PSL fans to come together to experience the content that will be provided by the new sponsors.
“This affiliation is special because it is the only affiliation that is as appealing to the young as it is to the old. It is the only affiliation that cuts across race, gender, creed, culture and political affiliations in the manner that it does,” Dr Khoza added.
“It creates equal conversations between people irrespective of their educational backgrounds and social strata.”
The previous Absa partnership captured the imagination of football-loving people in South Africa and across the African Continent.
Fans of the game accumulated memorabilia such as photos; soccer jerseys; digital images and videos, spawning a thriving merchandise industry for small businesses as well.
