Rathbone confirmed he is leaving the SABC, but did not want to divulge much about his new venture.
“I am in Kigali [Rwanda] at the moment. Let's chat next week,” he said via WhatsApp.
TimesLIVE understands he is likely to work closely with UK-based rights company TEAMTalk media, which is apparently keen to venture into Africa.
At the SABC Rathbone wanted to build a platform for local sport outside of pay -channels. Hie tenure also saw the return of regular boxing action to SABC schedules, plus the launch of the Heritage Rugby series, the first nationwide initiative in SA to provide extensive coverage of SA club rugby from every province.
During his two years in office, the SABC also saw a strong and sustained focus on women’s sport across all platforms.
The SA Football Association’s Hollywoodbets Super League, Cosafa Women’s Club Championship, the Women’s African Cup of Nations, Caf Women’s Champions League, Women’s Proteas series, Springbok Women’s rugby internationals were among events covered.
Others included the English FA Women’s Super League, Fifa Women’s World Cup, W Series F1 motor racing and the Women’s Junior Hockey World Cup.
Major loss for SABC Sport as Gary Rathbone quits
Image: Lubabalo Lesolle/Gallo Images
SABC Sport general manager Gary Rathbone is leaving the public broadcaster and will launch a new venture, Sportscape Media.
He is serving notice and will leave the Auckland Park head office at the end of September.
Rathbone joined the SABC in May 2020 and was responsible for rolling out a dedicated, 24-hour SABC sports channel, and increasing the public broadcaster’s sports properties from around 14 in early 2020 to more than 50 at present.
These included the acquisition of rights for premium international events such as the Africa Cup of Nations and Caf Champions League for Men and Women, the Fifa World Cup, the Netball World Cup, the English Premier League, the Bundesliga and the French Top 14 rugby series.
Rathbone’s new company will apparently focus on connecting broadcasters, teams, sponsors and sports media specialists across Africa.
He previously headed SuperSport’s African operations and dedicated African sports news channel Sports News Africa. He also worked as director of sports for cable network StarTimes in Beijing and London, Zuku TV in Nairobi and Discovery Network International.
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Rathbone confirmed he is leaving the SABC, but did not want to divulge much about his new venture.
“I am in Kigali [Rwanda] at the moment. Let's chat next week,” he said via WhatsApp.
TimesLIVE understands he is likely to work closely with UK-based rights company TEAMTalk media, which is apparently keen to venture into Africa.
At the SABC Rathbone wanted to build a platform for local sport outside of pay -channels. Hie tenure also saw the return of regular boxing action to SABC schedules, plus the launch of the Heritage Rugby series, the first nationwide initiative in SA to provide extensive coverage of SA club rugby from every province.
During his two years in office, the SABC also saw a strong and sustained focus on women’s sport across all platforms.
The SA Football Association’s Hollywoodbets Super League, Cosafa Women’s Club Championship, the Women’s African Cup of Nations, Caf Women’s Champions League, Women’s Proteas series, Springbok Women’s rugby internationals were among events covered.
Others included the English FA Women’s Super League, Fifa Women’s World Cup, W Series F1 motor racing and the Women’s Junior Hockey World Cup.
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