Most SA sport fans shut out by absence of SABC coverage
There is almost no live sport these days on SABC.
Proteas cricket players celebrate a wicket during last week’s T20 series against Australia, which was not shown live by the public broadcaster. Picture: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
It’s not unusual for elite stars to share stories about watching sport in their youth and how it motivated them to achieve lofty heights in their own careers.
Even sport fans and journalists tell similar tales about how they got hooked after watching professional stars showcasing their skills on television.
Unfortunately for the next generation of potential world beaters, unless they are raised in relatively privileged environments, they might receive no such motivation.
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In a country which has millions of unemployed people struggling to find work, only a small percentage of households can afford full DStv packages or streaming services in order to access top-flight sport.
For most, without matches and competitions being broadcast on SABC, they simply have no access.
While cricket is among the latest sports to be dumped, with the ongoing tour between the Proteas and Australia not being shown on SABC, it’s just one of many codes that have joined the public broadcaster’s scrapheap.
The Springboks will turn out among the favourites in defence of their Rugby World Cup title in France starting next week, but unless you have the resources to pay for live coverage, you won’t be watching.
Similarly, major athletics events which have traditionally been broadcast by SABC have been pushed to SuperSport, reducing access to popular road running races.
Even football, as popular as it is, is almost entirely restricted to satellite and streaming platforms.
Financial troubles
It is no secret that the SABC has faced financial trouble, and they will no doubt argue that they simply can’t afford to compete for rights with the likes of SuperSport.
Unless a solution is found, however, a whole generation is going to miss out on watching top-flight sport, and we could lose potential global stars along the way.
Considering how popular sport is in this country, the SABC should have at least one dedicated channel by now.
Instead of increasing their sport coverage, however, it has steadily declined in recent years.
And without access, a large portion of the nation’s youth won’t be able to watch their role models, which is going to have a massive impact on long-term development.
People can’t emulate their heroes if they don’t have any.
