SuperSport Super Disdainful

SuperSport.com’s weekly’s Super Wrap is probably one of the most read rugby blog posts, especially among South African expatriates. The reason is simple: It is from a South African point of view. One can read the same stuff on rugbyrugby.com or rugbyheaven.com.au or .nz, but The Wrap has always been good and, in my mind, always fair and balanced. This week’s comments though totally rubbed me up the wrong way and it seems a few others too:

Apologies to our overseas readers - the video rights only extend through Africa.
To the ex-pats - you should have stayed here...

I completely understand the issue about copyrights and that SuperSport can only show the videos in Africa and the unavailability of the videos has never been an issue to me. But to make a statement like that about the ex-pats???? Come on, you have always been better than that...


For emigrants like me, I rather live without your videos than to live in a constant state of criminal and racial war. Thank you but no thank you. But for the thousands of South Africans living and working temporary abroad, who are also ex-pats, that sentence was a smack in the face.


To the Gavin Rich’s and Brendan Nel’s of this world (it seems they are the main writers these days at SuperSport): Get out of your “laer” mentality and embrace the fact that we are all living in a big global village these days. People are living and working all over the world without denouncing their culture. And secondly, based on the comments below, make sure with your technical team that your website actually functions as advertised. To say you have videos and then it doesn’t actually works inside South Africa or your copyright area is pathetic. It seems that both the Super Wrap writers and the website personnel are getting sloppy and down right derogatory and disdainful.


Here are a few comments copied from Super Wrap about that dreaded statement.


• by Freddy May 5, 2010 07:47 GMT

Anybody else have the error message when viewing videos on SuperSports site: Cannot access the resource file?
And it''s not like I''m accessing from overseas, I''m in JHB? What should I do?

• by Neef Mytros May 5, 2010 08:08 GMT

Ag nee wraggies. Hey Supersport! Get off your arses and get the video rights. I bet 60% of your readership are based overseas. And we can''t follow the games on TV like the locals. And your sanctimonious tone is not appreciated either. It''s not as if we ever had a choice.

• by VIC May 5, 2010 09:12 GMT

Hey supersport the only people living in SA that look at this web site either have nothing to do or dont have M-Net. Its us ex pats that use this the most wake up and have a shot if the coffee doesnt work.

Now look after your ex pat support base

• by Michael May 5, 2010 09:56 GMT

Supersport stop jerking around and let us ex-pats working in Afghanistan on contract work also see the video''s!

• by @Supersport May 5, 2010 11:35 GMT

@ Supersport - Why are you guys scratching where it does not itch? Sitting in P.E. and cannot view the videos.

You guys seriously need new Web administrators. Obviously your new idea was not tested!
Govt incompetence now filtering down to the private sector! Sigh!!!


Notes: SuperSport logo is used courtesy of www.supersport.com.