Sports audience in African can now have access to contents from ESPN following the partnership between the Sports company and Kwese which was announced today.
The deal comes into effect in early 2017 with the launch of an ESPN channel in 19 countries, which is exclusive to Kwesé. ESPN will also produce daily SportsCenter updates for Africa, bringing the iconic sports news and highlights brand to the channel.
In addition, the deal will deliver the comprehensive sports coverage in Africa, offering a wide range of sports and thousands of hours of programming. African audiences will benefit from industry-leading content from the world’s leading sports media company ESPN, in conjunction with Kwesé’s premium sports offering, while Kwesé’s pan-African reach and its TV everywhere multiplatform distribution capability will deliver the content to viewers through TV and digital platforms making it accessible to sports fans wherever they are.
Speaking about the agreement, Joseph Hundah Chief Executive Officer of Econet Media said, “Ultimately our goals are the same, to bring fans the best in global sports. The synergies between Kwesé and ESPN allow us to achieve that goal by leveraging our collective ability to deliver premium African and global sports programming to sports fans across Africa. We look forward to collaborating with ESPN in Africa and providing African sports fans with access to global sports like never before.”
Russell Wolff, Executive Vice President and Managing Director, ESPN International, “ESPN’s focus around the world is simple: to serve sports fans. This long-term collaboration across television and digital media will do just that — serve millions of sports fans across Africa with exceptional products, content and coverage. We are very excited about the opportunities that lie ahead as we bring ESPN’s great content, including SportsCenter, and decades of experience in sports media together with one of Africa’s most dynamic and vibrant companies.”
The companies have also agreed to launch an African edition of the ESPN website and mobile app. KweseESPN.com and its accompanying app will marry ESPN’s coverage of global sports with local African sports news, analysis and perspectives from Kwesé. ESPN and Kwesé’s teams will feature many of the world’s best sports journalists and provide up-to-the-minute news and analysis on sports from around the globe with a unique African perspective. The site will also feature live scores and data for all major sports events as well as video news and highlights from ESPN and the Kwesé Sports channels.
Kwese is run by Econet Media, a subsidiary of one of Africa’s telecommunication company, Econet Wireless.
