DOMESTIC TV rights for Mainland Premier League matches are about to topple over 5bn/- mark for the first time in history after Azam Television won the rights to screen live league matches from next season.

However, skirmishes have also emerged. While details on the deal remain scanty, the little that we have heard from interim Tanzania Premier League Board (TPLB) chief, Wallace Karia, indicates that each club could expect an uplift of at least 100m/- a year from the so called Azam TV.

Apparently, the increase is somewhat a huge boost to the 14 clubs, which received an income of less than 50m/- in the past. It is a good move by TPLB and they deserve a pat on their back.

It was reported that Azam TV outbid SuperSport for the league Tv rights and have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with TPLB to beam live footages of the league matches for the next three seasons.

However, tensions have emerged ever since the deal was announced a few weeks ago, with the Mainland Champions Young Africans describing the deal as 'shoddy' and not all-encompassing. Yanga feel that Azam are the rivals and it won't make sense for them to show their matches.

They have decided to bar Azam Tv from beaming their matches. Yanga officials also said the deal was not worth it to the club and in the end, it would mean a reduction in ticket sales, which the club highly depend on for the revenue generation.

These are strong reservations from Yanga and we feel, they need to be addressed appropriately. However, Karia has strongly defended the deal and said all the 14 premiership clubs had endorsed proposals submitted by three television stations - SuperSport of South Africa, Star TV and Azam Tv.

He wonders why Yanga have taken a sudden twist, while they were present during the entire vetting process that resulted in Azam TV winning the contract. Whether the cash from this deal means a reduction in ticket sales to some clubs - so say Simba and Yanga or benefit to other minnow teams in the league, indeed, the ongoing bickering are not healthy at all. C

onflicting sides should calm their nerves, come to the negotiating table and re-analyse the shortcoming and strengths of the deal and reach a comprehensive agreement for the benefit of the country's football. Still, we believe, the knock on effect of this latest mega money deal is huge and it will impact on clubs up and down the top flight league and those outside the league in different ways.