WWE to Begin Broadcasting In New Part of Africa

Recently WWE have been expanding into new markets throughout the world. They have done this in an attempt to increase viewership and introduce more people to the product. This is likely due to decreasing ratings, despite the past few weeks of ‘Raw‘ and ‘Smackdown Live‘ having an increase in viewership.

As many members of the WWE Universe are aware of, WWE have made agreements in India. They’ve also had Jinder Mahal capture the WWE Championship to help with consumer growth. Now they are moving into a new market. Africa.

Randy Orton attacked by a fan in Cape Town, South Africa

Via the corporate website, WWE has today announced an agreement to air its content in over 50 countries in Southern Africa for the first time.

The agreement will be between WWE and SuperSport, allowing WWE to air ‘Raw,’ ‘Smackdown Live,’ and specials such as ‘SummerSlam’ and ‘WrestleMania’ in over 50 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

WWE have released the following statement about the agreement:

“JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA and STAMFORD, Conn., July 20, 2017 – WWE (NYSE: WWE) and SuperSport, Africa’s premier sports broadcaster, today announced a new, multi-year agreement to broadcast WWE programming live for the first time in more than 50 countries throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Starting Monday, August 28, SuperSport will air WWE’s flagship shows Raw^® and SmackDown^® as well as WWE specials, including WrestleMania^® and SummerSlam^®.

“WWE is a global phenomenon, so securing the broadcast rights for SuperSport is a terrific coup,” said Gideon Khobane, chief executive of SuperSport. “The athletes involved are larger than life figures who command huge followings. At long last our viewers will get to share in this entertainment spectacle in high definition. I look forward to a long and fruitful partnership with WWE.”

“SuperSport is a best-in-class partner who shares our vision and passion for engaging with and entertaining our fans,” said Ed Wells, WWE Executive Vice President, International. “Televising WWE programming live in sub-Saharan Africa for the first time is an important milestone for us, and we look forward to working with SuperSport to cultivate new fans in the region.”

SuperSport channels S3, S4, S9 and SS10 will televise Raw on Tuesdays and SmackDown on Wednesdays, offering both live telecasts and same-day re-airs, and will broadcast all WWE specials live, including WrestleMania^®, SummerSlam^®, Survivor Series^® and Royal Rumble^®. All programs will be available with English commentary and on demand.

WWE programming will also be made available across some of DStv’s general entertainment channels.

To celebrate the new partnership, SuperSport will televise the prior week’s episodes of Raw and SmackDown on Monday, August 28.”

Congratulations go to WWE for being able to secure such a fantastic deal, which will surely help audience numbers moving forward.

Editor’s Note:

I am super glad to hear of this agreement and my hope is that it leads to a lot of success for the company. I’m sure with the declining ratings they want to find ways to pick them up. While this obviously won’t solve all their problems, i personally believe it to be at the very least a step in the right direction.

Are you one of the people who will now get access to WWE? Are you excited about this? Let us know in the comments below or over on our Facebook page or Twitter account. Additionally, you can find me on Twitter at @SOSNH1995. We also want to remind you that we have a Newsletter you can sign up to. This will allow us to send you the best news in one place via an email. We also have the Wrestling Rumors app that we encourage you all to download to get updates faster than they release on our various pages. It is available on Android and iOS devices.