Mediapro seals Canadian football deal with StarTimes

Spanish broadcaster and producer Mediapro’s Canadian unit has sealed a distribution deal with Chinese-owned African pay TV operator StarTimes for coverage of the Canadian Premier League’s Island Games tournament currently taking place in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.

The StarTimes deal will take the Canadian competition to 13 million pay TV subscribers in 47 territories across sub-Saharan Africa, 

StarTimes will broadcast seven first-round CPL games, the six playoff matches and the final on its ST Sports Life channel, which is available on the StarTimes satellite and terrestrial platforms across the region. Games will also be available on StarTimes ON, its streaming service, which is available to close to 20 million users across the continent.

Mediapro said that the CPL’s appeal to African audiences is enhanced by the presence of a number of players of African origin in the competition.

StarTimes  currently holds the rights to the UEFA Nations League and Euro 2020, the UEFA Europa League, Spain’s LaLiga, England’s FA Cup and Community Shield, the Coppa Italia and a range of African leagues, including the Ghana Premier League and the Uganda Premier League.

The StarTimes deal for the Canadian Premier League follows Mediapro Canada announcing a deal with Indian sports channel 1Sports bringing coverage of the Canadian league to fans in the Indian subcontinent.