What’s confirmed for the 2025, 2026 Football Season
MultiChoice says SuperSport will carry the full 2025, 2026 football slate across DStv, GOtv and Showmax. The Premier League opens on 15 August at 21:00 CAT with Liverpool vs AFC Bournemouth. La Liga begins 15–16 August with Barcelona away to Mallorca, and Serie A kicks off 23 August with Napoli at Sassuolo at 18:30 CAT. Cup competitions, including the FA Cup and UEFA tournaments, plus CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup, are in the mix on SuperSport. (From the press release.)
The Kenya reality: access vs affordability
Prices for DStv and GOtv in Kenya have been adjusted multiple times since 2023. The latest round from August 1, 2025 lifts most tiers by roughly 4 to 7 percent, continuing a trend that has tested household budgets. For context and historical comparisons, see our explainers: DStv price increases in Kenya, November 2024 and our July 2025 update, MultiChoice Kenya Raises DStv and GOtv Prices Again. Also see our analysis of the “We’ve Got You” promo timing: MultiChoice’s “We’ve Got You” Promotion.
Showmax’s Premier League is still mobile-only
Showmax Pro, which previously offered TV streaming of live football, was discontinued in late 2023 ahead of the Showmax 2.0 relaunch. The new football play is Showmax Premier League Mobile. That delivers every PL game, but only on phones, leaving TV-first fans to DStv decoders or DStv Stream. Our coverage explains the shift: Showmax Pro discontinued and Showmax 2.0 pricing, PL on mobile.
DStv Stream: better concurrency, still uneven
MultiChoice restored two concurrent streams for Premium, Compact Plus and Compact in March 2025, reversing the previous one-stream cap. Official pages note customers can register multiple devices, with up to five registrations supported in Kenya. For many families this is progress, though lower tiers remain tighter.
Piracy pressure will shadow the season
When legitimate options feel pricier or constrained, illegal streams surge. Kenya’s crackdown on illicit football streams has been ongoing, and global piracy volumes remain huge. MUSO tracked 216.3 billion visits to piracy sites in 2024, with access fragmentation and cost as persistent drivers.
The Canal+ takeover context
South Africa’s Competition Tribunal granted conditional approval on 23 July 2025 for Canal+ to acquire MultiChoice, with significant public-interest commitments and structural steps to comply with ownership rules. There is no requirement to unbundle premium sports rights. Practically, SuperSport’s grip on top-tier football remains.
Bottom line
The rights are secured. The fixtures are set. But for many Kenyans the trade-offs are familiar: higher bills, PL on phones if you stick with Showmax, and device constraints that still vary by tier on DStv Stream. MultiChoice promises world-class coverage. The question for households is whether access on the screens they prefer, at a price they accept, follows suit.
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