KPL, Bamba Sports sign broadcast deal

The Kenyan Premier League on Tuesday unveiled a Sh100 million broadcast partnership with free-to-air channel Bamba Sports in a deal that is set run for the next six months.

The deal involves a total of Sh100.7 million, of which Sh36.7 million will be paid in cash to KPL. Sh40 million will go to the production of content while the remaining Sh24 million will be used to advertise the league on various platforms.

Two matches will be broadcasted in every round, and the first games will be aired live once the league resumes on 15th of this month.

All local television stations will be required to source KPL content from Bamba TV, but the contract allows the league organisers to negotiate with pay televisions and over the top (digital) content providers on the same rights.

According to Radio Africa Group Chief Executive Officer Patrick Quarcoo, two games will be broadcasted every weekend starting from July 15 when the league resumes.

“We started by broadcasting the lower tier league and we have received very positive feedback from that, and it has given us the motivation to invest in the top flight league," said Quarcoo.

“The games will be live on Bamba TV as well as sister channel Kiss TV, and there will also be live commentary on our radio station (Radio Jambo). We also hope to bring it live on mobile phones with support from willing partners."

“We have taken this bold step to help Kenyan football grow and we ask all corporates to come and stand with us in this vision."

KPL CEO Jack Oguda said that the deal will help lift the financial burden on clubs, although he was unable to immediately state exactly how the Sh37.6 million would be shared out among the 18 league clubs.

“It was very important that we get the league games back on air. Due to the departure of SuperSport, we had to cut down on many aspects of our budget including the annual grants to clubs," Oguda said.

"The financial committee will sit down and draft the budgets taking into account the operational costs of the games involved, before announcing how much the clubs will be entitled to.”

The deal between Bamba Sports and KPL will see top flight league games get back on air after almost four-month black out.

The blackout was occasioned by the abrupt withdrawal of South African broadcast sponsors SuperSport in March this year citing breach of contract.

To cut down on production costs and also due to the acute shortage of good playing surfaces currently plaguing the Kenyan sporting scene, Bamba Sports are targeting one double headers each weekend, preferably in Nairobi.

This will be the first time that both the KPL and National Super League games will be beamed live by the same broadcaster.