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Irvin Khoza (Gallo Images)
- The (PSL) have announced DStv as their new title sponsor with the league now renamed DStv Premiership.
- The broadcasting giant replaces Absa Bank as the league’s new title sponsor on a five-year deal starting in the upcoming 2020/2021 campaign.
- The league, which was previously sponsored by Castle Lager and then by Absa, will now be led by DStv as the new title sponsor going forward.
the Premier Soccer League (PSL) on Thursday the station announced DStv as their new title sponsor with the league now renamed the DStv Premiership.
DStv is a sub-Saharan African video entertainment company owned by MultiChoice Group.
“The Premier Soccer League is proud to announce that MultiChoice’s DStv brand has signed a five-year contract to become the new main sponsor of the first division,” said a statement.
“This is the continuation of a vibrant and fruitful partnership between PSL and MultiChoice.
Despite the financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the league led by President Irvin Khoza shared his joy at securing the league’s financial future for the next five years.
“As PSL continues to innovate with its quest to improve its product, it will be fully supported by DStv, whose offering requires an abundance of local content. There is no ‘them and us,’ said Khoza.
“We are united at the hip to produce more consumption of the best product for our deserving supporters.”
“This affiliation is special because it is the only affiliation that appeals to both the young and old. It is the only affiliation that cuts across race, gender, creed, culture, and political affiliations in the way that it does.” Khoza added.
“Create fair conversations between people regardless of their educational background and social status.
MultiChoice Group CEO Calvo Mawela said: “Through the DStv Premiership, we are expanding the reach of football more and more in partnership with PSL.
“This league is for all South Africans and all the communities represented in our uniquely diverse nation.
“With more televised games than ever, we are deliberately creating space for all South Africans to call this competition their own.”
The media had closely linked Johannesburg-based DStv as a candidate for the title sponsorship.
SuperSport, which has 15 channels on the DStv package, is PSL’s main broadcaster, and last year it signed a third five-year contract for an undisclosed amount.
The payment channel reportedly paid 1.6 billion rand in 2007 for the initial deal and one billion rand for the first renewal.
Absa’s head of sponsorship, Mtunzi Jonas, said at the time that the decision by one of South Africa’s top five banks to pull out was not related to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
“The economic impact was there long before Covid-19 and I don’t think the timing is important,” he said.
“Absa’s senior leaders have made a decision that they consider best for the company,” he said of a bank that sponsors the country’s rugby team, which won the 2019 World Cup in Japan.
Renowned for its efficient organization, the PSL is commonly described as the “EPL (English Premier League) of Africa”.
The South African PSL offers cash prizes that most African countries can only dream of matching.
Absa was reportedly investing R 140 million per season in the most recent three-year sponsorship deal that came to an end at the end of the 2019/2020 campaign.
Additionally, in November 2019, for the first time in its history, it declared a record One billion rand income for the 2018/2019 financial year.
The league, which was previously sponsored by Castle Lager, then known as the Castle Premiership, from its inception in 1996 to 2007, will now be led by DStv as the new title sponsor going forward.
– Compiled by Baden Gillion
