For the first time in history, South Africa doesn’t get to watch the IPL.

South Africans will not be able to watch the Indian Premier League live on TV for the first time since the first season. SuperSport just said that they don’t have the rights to the 16th tournament because they lost the Sub-Saharan African rights to Viacom18 in June 2022.

Notably, the group also won the rights to broadcast in England, New Zealand, and Australia. Viacom18 has made a deal with regional broadcasters so that people in these places will be able to watch the games live on their TVs. On the other hand, neither SuperSport nor any other company in South Africa did anything like that, so fans will be able to watch the IPL live on TV this season.

“SuperSport used to have the rights to show the Indian Premier League on TV. Unfortunately, commercial talks with the rights holder about the next cycle of rights haven’t gone well, so SuperSport won’t be showing the IPL after this year, a SuperSport spokesperson told ESPNcricinfo.

In the meantime, 15 cricketers from South Africa will be playing in the next season of the IPL. Some of the best cricketers, like Faf du Plessis, Aiden Markram, Quinton de Kock, Kagiso Rabada, and David Miller, are playing in the tournament. Unfortunately, many of the cricketers are still away on international duty and can’t join their respective franchises yet.

Since the Proteas have not yet qualified for the upcoming ODI World Cup, the series against the Netherlands is very important for the team led by Temba Bavuma. Cricket South Africa (CSA) has named a strong squad for the remaining two matches and the players who are currently involved with the national team, are expected to reach India for IPL in the first week of April.

Meanwhile, it is said that CSA is upset that fans won’t be able to watch IPL live on TV. Even more so after the SA20 league, where all six teams are owned by IPL franchises and did well.