South Africa’s SABC, the country’s public-service broadcaster, has once again struck a broadcast deal with soccer rightsholder New World TV, through which it will showcase the 2026 men’s and 2027 women’s FIFA World Cup competitions.
In achieving the sub-license, SABC will showcase both major competitions across its SABC 1, SABC 3, and SABC Sport channels, the SABC Plus OTT service, and additionally, will provide radio coverage via its range of radio stations.
This will include 34 games from next year's World Cup and 25 fixtures from the 2027 tournament.
Coverage will be delivered in partnership with South African sports betting and igaming operator Hollywoodbets, which has backed the rights acquisition.
Securing the rights to the 2026 World Cup, which will take place across the US, Mexico, and Canada, was of particular importance as the South African men’s national team has qualified for the tournament for the first time since the country hosted in 2010, and indeed will compete in the opening match of the competition against Mexico.
For the Women’s World Cup in two years, meanwhile, qualification will be settled through performances at the 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations, a fact that will potentially aid South Africa, which finished fourth at the summer 2025 edition of the tournament.
This move consolidates SABC’s coverage of the South African national team, with the broadcaster having had a relationship with the South African Football Association governing body for over 30 years.
Currently, SABC is the broadcaster of all men’s and women’s national team matches in a contract running through 2028, with the 2026 and 2027 World Cups adding to its coverage of each team’s games.
Hollwoodbets’ most prominent soccer branding placement comes alongside English Premier League side Brentford, which it has been the front-of-shirt sponsor of since the beginning of the 2021-22 campaign.
New World TV (NWTV), the Togo-based satellite television network operating across sub-Saharan Africa, snapped up the regional media rights to the 2026 and 2027 World Cups back in June, and is once again looking to secure sub-licensing deals across 43 markets (including South Africa) for free-to-air coverage.
The other 42 markets are: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Congo DR, Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé and Princípe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
