You can soon watch live sport on YouTube in South Africa [Update: not just yet]

Update: On Thursday, Google has issued an updated statement on YouTube and SuperSport, and the future of live sport on its platform. Read the full update here.

YouTube on Tuesday announced a partnership with both SuperSport and NBA Africa that will now bring video on demand sporting content to the platform.

This will include popular events such as the UEFA Champions league, Africa Cup of Nations football, Spain’s 123 league football, the local ABSA Premier League, the FIFA Women’s World Cup and the 2019 NBA Finals.

“It goes without saying that Africa is sport-loving continent, so it makes perfect sense for us to bring African sports fans what they love. Our audience is constantly looking for sports content on YouTube,” said Dayo Olopade, content partnership lead for YouTube.

With sport and fitness content racking up 61-billion views in 2018, increasing by 70%, the company noted that the genre has become quite popular on YouTube.

“South Africans will also be able to view select live sporting events on YouTube in the future,” the company concluded.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this article, based on an initial press release by Google, stated that live sporting events is currently available on YouTube. However, Google has revised information in a reissued press release, now stating that live sporting events will be available to all users in South Africa in the future. Video on demand and highlights packages is however available at present. We’ve updated the article to reflect this information.

Feature image: Shereesa Moodley/Memeburn