The SABC will have to cough up "way more" than R350-million for a new five-year contract with Safa granting it the broadcast rights to Bafana matches.

The current five year deal, believed to be worth R30-million a year, expires in April.

Safa chief executive Leslie Sedibe has laid down the law: he wants the public broadcaster to pay top dollar to retain its status as exclusive rights holders.

An industry insider gave the Sunday Times a ball-park figure of between R60-million and R70-million a year as the current value of the rights.

But Sedibe insisted: "It is way much more than that - but I am not going to negotiate with the SABC through the media."

A meeting between the public broadcaster and football association to thrash out a new deal is scheduled for later in the month.

"From our perspective the SABC remains the preferred partner," said Sedibe, "but we are certainly not prepared to renew the agreement subject to the same terms and conditions."

Another industry expert said the meeting will play out as a showdown because Safa are hellbent on playing hardball - notwithstanding the financial constraints bedevilling the SABC.

"The SABC is currently paying Safa about R30-million. Safa gives back R500000 for production costs. The contract is based on how many matches Bafana play a year - and that excludes the Africa Cup of Nations and World Cup tournaments.

"Based on R30-million and assuming Bafana play 15 matches a year, it equates to R2-million a match. Minus the production cost, Safa are really getting a paltry R1.5-million a match."

The expert said that the football association is feeling short changed and strangled from making a profit from its primary product, the senior national side.

"Because of the value of the Bafana brand, Safa should be getting at least R3-million a match plus a certain percentage of promotional airtime to promote the game in order to fill the stadium and further build and enhance the brand."

Sedibe said Safa needed a fresh business plan to exploit its revenue streams.

"The biggest frustration we have is that most our teams (with the exception of Bafana and boys and girls under-17s), do not have a sponsor. How is Safa supposed to fund the activities of all these teams without revenue?" asked Sedibe.

He has reportedly threatened to follow the PSL example and sell the rights to SuperSport if the negotiations with the SABC deadlock.

Another industry insider said: "SuperSport pays the PSL R1.5-billion. Why should Safa settle for crumbs? I don't normally agree with the many things Safa does, but in this instance they are well within their rights to demand a much-improved deal."

But Imtiaz Patel, group chief executive of Multichoice South Africa, gave a firm "no, no, no" when asked if SuperSport were interested in securing the Bafana broadcast rights.

"As far as I am concerned, acquiring those rights is a non-event in SuperSport's life.

"The SABC are the rights holders. We have never been approached and have not even gone as far as applying our minds to it.

"People are dragging our name into things that are completely none of our business. Whoever is mentioning our name is doing so in vain."

An Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) official, who did not want to be named, said Safa will find it difficult to make real its threat to offer the rights to the pay channel.

"Bafana matches are listed events and must be shown on free-to-air television. Safa's frustration is understandable because they feel they cannot unlock the value of the Bafana television product. The regulations restrict them from making it a competitive TV product in the market."

The Icasa official expressed confidence that "Safa will in all likelihood keep their rights with the SABC. Bafana matches are a listed event and must be available to South Africans through free-to-air TV."

Said Sedibe: "We want South Africans to continue to access Bafana matches. Safa carries a public service mandate just like the SABC.

"But this public service mandate comes at a premium and we are not in a position to compromise the quality of our product by continuing to undervalue it."

SABC spokesman Kaizer Kganyago said: "We don't know how much Safa are demanding and they don't know what our response will be.

"The responsible thing to do is discuss this responsibly in a private space."