South Africa. A land known more for beautiful mountain ranges and rugby playing ability than anything related to football is in fact a nation that is highly invested in football in terms of support. Ask a South African who they support, and they’ll most likely rattle off some big-name European team that they have no affiliation to.
While the South African national football team leaves much to be desired, there is no shortage of passion, which was displayed at the 2010 World Cup.
International football fans got a taste of this unique culture that is characterised by plastic trumpets that sound like a swarm of bees (called vuvuzelas), and repurposed hard hats (known as makarapas). One of the main highlights for South Africans however, was the fact that they could watch Cristiano Ronaldo live.
When Ronaldo moved to Juve back in 2018 however, many South Africans began feeling rather despondent, as the only football leagues that were covered on South African “cable television” (known as DSTV) at the time were the Premier League and La Liga.
Serie A, however, remained unavailable for the most part, leaving the majority of South Africans disappointed at the prospect of not being able to watch their hero on a weekly basis.
Then, something rather extraordinary happened. The channel that provides sports to South Africans through this cable provider struck a deal to begin broadcasting Serie A events as they happened.
South Africans were now able to tuck into a whole new league, at no extra cost, with many believing for the sole purpose that CR7 made the move to Juve. There had been no prior talks to bring the Italian game to South African screens, and as far as support goes, South Africans are mainly invested in the Premier League, La Liga, and the Bundesliga. Little footballing interest lies in Italy.
South Africans largely do their soccer betting on the English, Spanish and German leagues, and only tend to bet on Italian teams when they play in the Champions League.
So, in essence, it’s safe to say that Ronaldo’s move to Juve caused such a ripple, that South African broadcasting services went out of their way to secure a deal to bring a league to South Africans that they had no prior interest in.
Fast forward a few years, and you can still see the Italian giants battling it out in South Africa, in what has become a league of interest in the country. Serie A is still being broadcasted on South Africans screens, and this can all be drawn back to the fact that one of the world’s most influential people, and arguably the most influential footballer, swapped shirts.
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