The Competitions watchdog of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) slapped a fine of $300,000 each on Qatari sports broadcasting giant beIN Media and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Thursday for breach of competition regulations. This decision has far-reaching implications for wheeler-dealers in the lucrative sports content market. The commission additionally ruled that no single entity would be allowed to purchase all the broadcast packages. “CAF shall offer the various media rights as separate, commercially viable packages on a platform-neutral basis,” said Dr. Willard Mwemba, the chief executive of the Comesa Competitions Commission (CCC). Dr. Mwemba explained that the watchdog's investigations dating back to 2017 revealed that agreements for the commercialization of media rights of football competitions organized by CAF violated Article 16 of the Commission’s regulations. These agreements granted exclusive media rights to beIN, awarded in a non-open tender process, and were deemed excessive, likely leading to significant prevention and distortion of competition in Africa. This decision is expected to create an open marketplace for companies to bid on media rights, ending conflicts among lesser-affluent broadcasters denied access when richer networks acquire exclusive rights to televise football competitions. In 2017, the CCC initiated an investigation against CAF regarding agreements with third parties to commercialize rights under competitions overseen by the soccer governing body. The CCC's decision is a major victory for smaller broadcasters and fans advocating for more transparency and competition in the African football market. The response of CAF and beIN Media to the fines and the new regulations remains to be seen.