BCI, a company in which Arena Holdings has a significant shareholding, has entered into an agreement with telecommunications giant, Vodacom, to launch Sports Radio, a new service that includes live audio commentary of all the English Premier League (EPL) matches.
The deal means all Vodacom subscribers can, from this evening (13 August 2021), cheer their favourite EPL team safely from the comfort of their homes as Sports Radio will carry live commentary for all the 380 matches of the 2021/22 season. In addition the site will carry interesting and up to date pre – and post-match insights as well as podcasts.
Arena Holdings, through its shareholding in Bassfin Content INC (BCI), is excited about the potential of the audio rights to the EPL that were acquired from talkSPORT International, the global audio partner of the Premier League.
“We are very happy to be working with Vodacom to launch this service, which is the first of its kind in South Africa. We hope that football fans will enjoy this service as we believe Sports Radio is exactly what the market needs at this point in time,” said Pule Molebeledi, managing director of Arena Holdings and chairman of BCI.
“Our research shows us that consumers are increasingly consuming their sports content on their mobile devices and on multiple platforms. So BCI working together with Vodacom and our technical partner PM Connect to launch Sports Radio is in line with our ambition as Arena Holdings to play an increasingly influential role in the African media landscape.”
The EPL is one of the most widely followed soccer leagues in the world. Now, through the Sports Radio, subscribers can conveniently use their mobile phones to keep up with the latest news, listen to live matches and follow their favourite teams.
Not only will subscribers be able to listen to live match commentary, but they will also get pre-match banter and post-game discussions from soccer experts, with fans having the choice of which teams they would like to listen to. Subscribers also have access to daily news updates, highlights packages, a variety of podcast content, announcements of upcoming fixtures, and in-depth player and club information.
To top it all subscribers will also get expert analysis from the TalkSport team of commentators and pundits including the like of Trevor Sinclair, Darren Bent, Stuart Pearce and Ally McCoist.