The South African heading the best sports broadcaster in the world

A burning desire to work in sports and a short stint in fast-moving consumer goods have helped SuperSport CEO Rendani Ramovha navigate the challenges of heading the world’s best sports broadcaster.

Ramovha grew up in Venda, Limpopo, where he attended Louis Trichardt High School, which only offered rugby and athletics.

He says his love for sport came from playing rugby, which eventually earned him a scholarship from the Blue Bulls to attend St. Albans College.

“I think that’s where my life changed. It was all through rugby,” he said during a MultiChoice interview.

Rugby continued to play a major role during his youth, which made him determined to pursue a professional career playing the sport.

At under-16 level, he played in the Grant Khomo tournament, representing the Limpopo Blue Bulls, which he was also selected to play for in the under-19 Craven Week.

He was then offered a contract at the under-19 Blue Bulls, where he said he had to balance pursuing a career in rugby with earning a degree.

His playing career saw him play in the Varsity Cup for Wits University, a club in Cape Town called Masipumelela, and eventually, a team in Wales called RGBC.

On the other hand, his studies resulted in him graduating with a Master’s in Marketing, setting him up for a post-rugby career in business.

He is also a business leadership graduate from the GIBS Business School.

Ramovha started working for Diageo, a multinational alcoholic beverage company that owns brands such as Johnny Walker, Tanqueray, and Guinness, where he was responsible for distribution in Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, and Namibia.

While he says that working in the fast-moving consumer goods industry sharpened his commercial skills, he has always wanted to work in the sporting industry.

He points to a particular moment when the Springboks won the 2007 Rugby World Cup, which he says created a desire to participate in sport at that level to encourage youth participation.

Joining MultiChoice

“I’ll never forget the first time I found out about SuperSport. We had Opentime and I think we were watching SuperSport Blitz, and Imtiaz Patel came on with a stripe that said ‘CEO of SuperSport’,” Ramovha said.

“I didn’t know what it was, but I thought it sounded cool.”

This desire to work for SuperSport encouraged him to take a pay cut and join MultiChoice as a sports marketing manager in 2019. Five months later, he was promoted to senior commercial manager.

This role involved two key initiatives, which he said were central to shaping the future of sports: SuperSport Schools and BetKing.

In 2022, he became SuperSport’s head of commercial and marketing before being appointed to the role Imtiaz Patel once held—SuperSport CEO.

Ramovha emphasised the role of SuperSport in South African society and the entire continent, saying that if it does not play its role, it is hard to see how sports development can be sustainable in South Africa.

“I don’t say this arrogantly, but our day-to-day job influences millions of people,” he said.

“We are the biggest sports funder in Africa and arguably the biggest sports broadcaster globally. No one in the world broadcasts more sports content than us, and that’s a fact.”

DStv recently reported that it offered the most extensive 2024 Paris Olympics coverage. It also provides better coverage of the English Premier League than any broadcaster in the UK.

Therefore, Ramovha said a significant part of his role is ensuring that the broadcaster’s job remains tied to its purpose.

“If we don’t do this, many kids won’t be able to shape dreams about sport or how they see themselves playing sport professionally,” he said.

“We have a role to play in how we can make sport more accessible, how we can grow sport, and how we can grow talent from the grassroots to the professional level.”

SuperSport is not only heavily invested in contributing to sports by purchasing broadcasting rights, but it also sponsors grassroots programmes like the DStv Diski Challenge.

This football competition, the youth reserve team league to South Africa’s first division, has seen 350 players transition to the Premier Soccer League and other clubs worldwide.

In line with his goal of connecting people to their passion for sport, Ramovha aims to create a space for discussion to increase access to SuperSport’s broadcasting using over-the-top platforms, such as Showmax.

The streaming platform currently offers a Premier League package with all games available for mobile viewing and all Premier Soccer League matches.

He also hopes to use SuperSport Schools, which he worked on when he first joined the broadcaster, to reach a younger audience.