Econet Media’s Kwesé and ESPN have signed a deal that will deliver ESPN content to more sports audiences in 19 countries in Africa early 2017, the deal is exclusive to Kwesé and will be broadcast via KweseESPN.com
ESPN will also produce daily SportsCenter updates for Africa, bringing the iconic sports news and highlights brand to the channel.
Key programming in the agreement include live sports such as U.S. college football, major U.S. college basketball, NCAA college sport championships from baseball, softball, lacrosse, soccer; Premier Boxing Champions and ESPN’s Big Fights Library; the Verizon IndyCar Series including the iconic Indy 500, X Games, Special Olympics World Games coverage and more.
Under Original Programming, the deal will see viewers will include ESPN Films Award-Winning 30 For 30 documentaries, and a range of additional studio programming such as ESPN FC, Pardon The Interruption, Around The Horn, College Gameday and more. Econet also already licenses NFL- related programming – including NFL Live, NFL Countdown and more – from ESPN, as part of a TV rights deal with the NFL, brokered by ESPN Media Distribution.
Kwesé also features coverage of English Premier League, Formula One, international Cricket, Aviva Premiership Rugby, The Spanish Copa Del Rey, Brazilian football, Extreme Fighting Championship and so much more.
In addition, by mid-2017, ESPN and Kwesé will together launch an African edition of the ESPN website and mobile app. With the conclusion of this agreement Kwesé adds NCAA American football and basketball to its existing broadcast rights for the NFL, NHL and the NBA, making it the home of American sports in Africa.