IPL 2023: Fans in South Africa won’t be able to watch the 16th season of Indian Premier League (IPL) on TV as their pay-television broadcaster SuperSport confirmed it had not secured the rights. This will be the first time South African public who won’t be watching IPL on TV as Viacom 18 has not made any deal with SuperSport. After 15 long years of showing IPL on TV, SuperSport lost the broadcast rights for the IPL 16th season after losing the Sub-Saharan African rights to Viamcom18 in June. Follow IPL 2023 Live Updates with InsideSport.IN.
Fans in Australia, New Zealand, and England can watch IPL 2023 season as Viacom18 also won the rights. While it does not have a presence in any of these countries, viewers in Australia, England, and New Zealand can watch IPL via broadcasters who have cracked a deal with Viacom18. SuperSport has not made any deal for this IPL season.
“SuperSport previously held broadcast rights to the Indian Premier League,” a SuperSport spokesperson told ESPNcricinfo. “Commercial discussions with the rights holder for the next cycle of rights have unfortunately been unsuccessful and SuperSport will therefore not broadcast the IPL as of this year’s edition.”
IPL 2023 Loss to South African fans, as they miss IPL for the first time
Not only South African fans, but the CSA are also disappointed in losing the broadcast rights. With the inaugural edition of the SA20 League being a major success among fans, CSA wanted to cash in on that momentum. 15 South African players are part of the IPL. Faf du Plessis, Quinton de Kock, Kagiso Rabada, Aiden Markram, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, David Miller, Rilee Rossouw, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Duan Jansen, Donovan Ferreira, Dewald Brevis, Sisanda Magala, and Dwaine Pretorius spread across nine teams.
The Proteas players will miss the initial few games of IPL due to the two-match ODI series against the Netherlands starting on March 31. The ODI series is vital for South Africa to qualify directly for the 50-Over World Cup.