02 Nov Independent media and StarSat Launching historic Bundesliga Partnership

Posted at 11:50h in Press Releases by

Independent Media and StarSat, a top digital satellite television brand operating in the South African market, have joined forces on a landmark content partnership to promote coverage of the popular German Bundesliga league in South Africa.

 

The partnership kicked off today with a dedicated Bundesliga focus in Independent’s flagship national morning newspaper titles The Star, Pretoria News, The Mercury and Cape Times, which will run in these titles every Wednesday until the end of the current Bundesliga season in May 2018. The campaign will also run on the IOL Sport digital platform, which will host a dedicated Bundesliga section.

 

StarSat are the Official Broadcaster of the Bundesliga on the African continent and also broadcast the Italian Serie A and French Ligue One on their digital satellite pay television platform, which has over 100 channels of world-class sport and entertainment.

 

South Africa has a long history with the Bundesliga, with former Bafana Bafana internationals Steven Pienaar (Borussia Dortmund), Delron Buckley (Bochum, Borussia Dortmund) and Bradley Carnell (Stuttgart) all having had stellar careers in the German top flight. Former Kaizer Chiefs striker Knowledge Musona also enjoyed success in the Bundesliga at Wolfsburg, while former Premier Soccer League coaches Ernst Middendorp and Muhsin Ertugral also enjoy strong ties with the Bundesliga.

 

Pienaar, who also had much success with Tottenham Hotspur and Everton in the English Premier League, kickstarted this exciting seven-month campaign with a column today on his reflections as a Dortmund player ahead of the massive clash this Saturday when Dortmund host the mighty Bayern Munich at the Signal Iduna Park.

 

“There is something special about playing at the Dortmund arena. The atmosphere in that stadium is arguably the best I’ve experienced in my playing career. A Dortmund home match against Bayern is one of the greatest events any sportsman can be a part of,” Pienaar said of this weekend’s epic clash.

 

“For us at Independent, the partnership with StarSat is a special one. The digital satellite television space is a very contested one at the moment and it’s exciting to see new entrants coming into the market and giving viewers greater choice and variety. Independent has a strong, loyal and knowledgeable football following across our titles and we are very happy to be partnering with StarSat to bring greater awareness and promotion of one of the best leagues in the world,” said Jermaine Craig, head of Independent Media Solutions: Sport.

 

QUOTE FROM CEO OF STARTIMES MEDIA SA, JOHN YAN.

 

As part of the partnership, Independent journalists will go on media tours to the Bundesliga for first-hand exposure to the league, the first of which is in November with trips to two Bundesliga matches, when Dortmund host neighbours Schalke in a red-hot Ruhr district derby and in Cologne when FC Köln hosts Hertha Berlin.

 

StarSat and Independent will also soon announce details of a reader competion in which lucky Independent readers and StarSat subscribers will win a trip to Germany to also experience the Bundesliga up close.

 

To coincide with the launch StarSat are giving away 10 StarSat Combo3 decoders (with full installation), and several Bundesliga and StarSat branding gifts.