SuperSport retains English soccer rights in Africa

LONDON - Broadcaster SuperSport has retained the rights to show live English Premier League soccer matches in South Africa, Nigeria and other part of sub-Saharan Africa from 2013-2016, the Premier League said on Thursday.Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed but the 20-team league is believed to have secured an improvement on the current deal which expires at the end of this season.“We have worked with SuperSport for a number of years and are extremely pleased to extend our partnership,” Premier League Chief Executive Richard Scudamore said in a statement.SuperSport, part of the MultiChoice pay TV business, has its headquarters in South Africa but broadcasts across the continent.The Premier League is in the process of renewing overseas broadcast contracts in territories around the globe. It has already secured a 70 percent increase in the value of domestic TV rights in an agreement worth more than 1 billion pounds per year.English soccer is available in 720 million households around the world and its top clubs have a big global following.The total value of overseas rights under the current three-year deal was around 1.3 billion pounds - a lot more than other European leagues can generate for their international rights.Manchester United said earlier this month that it expected a “substantial increase” in the value of international television contracts.

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SuperSport retains English soccer rights in Africa