Supersport losing its edge?

[Nerfherder]

One cannot really argue against First Class cricket (cricket being one of our ''Big Three'' sports) not receiving any coverage locally while an obscure football league does.

Sunfoil is on SABC3... is that what you are talking about ?

 

[thestaggy]

So because they couldn't broadcast the cricket (for whatever reasons), they shouldn't broadcast an obscure football league either? WHy should the Kenyan football fans suffer for SS being unable to broadcast the cricket?

Did not say anybody should suffer, did I? Simply stated that if they can broadcast a league that likely has low appeal on local TVs then they could maybe do more about covering a local sport.

ESPN offered/offers region-specific channels/packages, SuperSport could do the same and free up local time slots for local sports. US viewers never got the ESPN channel we got as it was tailored more to us, hence football (not the American kind) and outdoor sports dominated that channel.

I'm going to disagree. Cricket is big in SA, and millions watch Proteas matches, but franchise cricket, no so much. Stadium attendance are down in all 3 formats, news channels barely cover it, except for finals, and it doesn't 'sit' at the same level for sports fans as Currie Cup rugby or PSL football. Maybe it's because SA's best players hardly play for their franchises (this effect can be seen in the Currie Cup) or something else, but franchise cricket has not been a ratings success.

It's sad, since I'm a big cricket fan, but people simply aren't tuning in. I still go to Warriors games, but St Georges park is lucky to see more than 5 000 people for a limited over match. For a 4 day match, with free entry, they are lucky to see 50.

As for Supersport losing rights, this was always going to happen with new broadcasters. Only a few people seemed to understand it though. Supersport lost their rights to Bafana friendlies too, and Starsat have that now.

It is a vicious circle. You need coverage to generate buzz. I have no idea what is happening with our local motorsport scene anymore because of the horrific coverage it gets. It is sad when you get to see a full Aussie V8 race day or live coverage of the DTM qualifying but only get a 5-minute highlight package of the local Production car series.

The English Counties are having the same battle with the ECB over there. Sky and the ECB just secured a new deal and the Counties have demanded that they up the coverage of County Cricket, including test cricket, even if it is just a 30-minute highlights package. They too are battling with falling crowds across all formats (50-over, T20 and Test) and they pressed upon the ECB that TV coverage is vital to maintaining and even creating interest.