DStv dumps Premiership as headline sponsor, Betway in the forefront to take over

Revenue loss, caused mainly by a sharp decline in subscriptions, combined by the departure of MultiChoice group CEO Imtiaz Patel, who's said to be a close associate of PSL chairman Dr Irvin Khoza, has left DStv with no choice but to abandon the league as the Premiership's headline sponsor.

This is according to an insider at MultiChoice. Several reports emerged on Wednesday that Betway was leading the race to replace DStv as the headline sponsor of the Premiership, with the start of the 2024/25 Premiership season likely to be delayed as negotiations between the league, DStv and Betway are believed to be ongoing.

“Look, MultiChoice has notified the PSL that its coffers are running dry, hence they want to end the sponsorship immediately. The league wants MultiChoice to at least end the partnership at the end of the 2024/25 season but that's unlikely to happen because the company continues to lose money, especially because the subscriptions are dwindling,'' the source said on Wednesday.

“Another big factor here is that Patel has just left MultiChoice [he exited in April]... remember he's very close to Dr Khoza. Their relationship was forged when Patel helped SuperSport to pip SABC to the PSL broadcast rights back in 2011. Now with Patel gone, the negotiations are not that smooth. I believe Patel would've made means to allow the deal to at least end at the end of the 2024/25 season.”

Last week, the league told clubs to hold off on printing their jerseys for the new season as “there would be a new premier division logo”. It's now clear that this was a delaying tactic by the PSL to finalise the issue of the sponsor in the interim.

DStv had signed a five-year deal to become the new title sponsor of the PSL in October 2020, replacing Absa. DStv public relations manager Sthembiso Semenya and PSL acting CEO Mato Madlala could not be reached for comment, while Playmakers, an agency that handles PR for Betway, declined to comment.