Boxxer has announced a new media rights partnership with StarTimes, bringing in Sub-Saharan Africa fans across the region to watch its events.
The collaboration will enable over 13 million households access to watch the British boxing promotion’s shows, exclusively on StarTimes platforms.
Headquartered in Beijing, the digital television operator has become one of the most influential operators in Africa, boasting subsidiaries in more than 30 African countries, with a reach of 45 million people in the region.
A driving force behind the deal is the heritage of many of Boxxer’s fighters, such as Martin Bakole, Lawrence Okolie, Dan Azeez, Joshua Buatsi, and others of African heritage.
Ben Shalom, BOXXER Founder and CEO, commented: “Africa is a major growth region and focus for us in the coming months and years. Many of our fighters are of African heritage and feel deep affinity with the region, and we know there is a strong appetite for elite-level combat sports there.
“We’re delighted to announce this new partnership with StarTimes and open up our events and fighters to millions of viewers across Africa.”
Furthermore, the agreement will include a range of shoulder programming to elevate StarTimes’ promotion of Boxxer events, hoping to familiarise African audiences with Boxxer’s stable of fighters.
Boxxer exclusively airs on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland, since the leading UK sports broadcaster signed a four-year deal with the promotion in 2021. The promotional firm also recently partnered with energy drink company, WOW Hydrate.
Li Bin, Director of Sports Channels at StarTimes stated: “StarTimes always spare no effort to present the best in sports entertainment to our viewers.
“We are honoured to collaborate with BOXXER, such a professional boxing promoter who shares the same target with us, and trust that the joint efforts will bring extraordinary experiences to the fans of combat sports across Africa.”
