Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 118, May 2019 | Page 16

SPORT MAN
Says
By
Manfred Seidler
The Right to Broadcast
Just some of the headlines that were bandied about in the weeks leading up to the 2019 Old Mutual Two Oceans
Marathon in April included “50 th Two Oceans Marathon won’t be broadcast,” “ASA and SABC drop the ball,” and “Outrage
as Two Oceans won’t be screened on TV.” These conversations have been doing the rounds now for a long time, and it is
perhaps time to set the record straight as to what broadcasting rights are, and how they are sold.
federations of the sport, i.e. only they can sell the
right to broadcast the sport to any broadcaster. Thus
the domestic soccer broadcast rights are vested in
the offices of the PSL, which has sold the rights to
broadcast the top division domestic football matches
to Supersport. Likewise, SAFA holds the broadcast
rights to Bafana Bafana and other international
matches. The rights to broadcast cricket in South
Africa lie with CSA, just as the rugby broadcast rights
lie with SA Rugby (SARA).
The SABC has a mandate to broadcast “Events of
National Interest,” but has neither the capacity (i.e. air
time/channels) nor the financial means to do so. And
Supersport is part of Multichoice, whose objective is
to sell decoders, and in the past it felt that athletics
would not sell decoders, so it was not interested in
the broadcast rights to the sport. The research has
been done. So that means ASA has to go to the
SABC. They are pretty much stuck between a rock
and a hard place.
What are Broadcast Rights
Broadcast rights, in the sporting world, are in
essence the selling of the right to broadcast a sport.
In the case of four sporting codes in South Africa,
the broadcast rights are vested in the national
“ASA and SABC were deadlocked in
negotiations and Two Oceans was on the
verge of not being broadcast for the first
time in decades”
16
ISSUE 118 MAY 2019 / www.modernathlete.co.za
The ownership of television rights by ASA came about
when the new federation was formed in 1994, at the
unification of the various athletics bodies. Before
that, the sport was run by three separate bodies in
the establishment, one for road running, one for track
and field, and one for cross country. The so called
“non-establishment” side of the sport, for non-white
athletes, had pretty much the same set-up. With
South Africa being invited back into international
sport in 1991, both the establishment and non-
Images &
W
ith the impasse between Athletics South
Africa (ASA) and the SABC leading to
the race not being broadcast, so many
people on social media were saying, “Just give it
to Supersport. Let them cover the events.” Well,
firstly, broadcast rights are not ‘given,’ they are sold,
and secondly, there is a massive assumption that
broadcasters are just waiting to air sporting events.
Actually, no, it is not that simple.
ASA owns the broadcast rights to all athletics events
in South Africa. That means, all road races, track
and field events, cross country races, trail races and
mountain races. Take note, I say races! Fun runs,
parkruns, and any events that are not seen as races
and therefore do not fall under the rules of ASA,
do not fall into this category. (Trail and mountain
running are still a grey area, given that they have only
recently come under the mantle of ASA, and that is a
conversation for another day.)