SportPesa Premier League to revert to original name
Sofapaka’s Umaru Kasumba (front) battles with Bernard Otieno of Nzoia Sugar in their Kenyan Premiership match on August 23, 2017 against the backdrop of a SportPesa Premier League billboard at Moi International Sports Centre in Nairobi. PHOTO | MARTIN MUKANGU |
What you need to know:
- Agreement reached to drop name of betting firm, says KPL CEO Oguda.
- League bosses say circular will be sent out on use of competition name for league.
The Kenyan Premier League is expected to revert to its original name soon in light of the withdrawal of title sponsors SportPesa.
KPL Chief Executive Officer Jack Oguda and chairman Dan Aduda on Monday told Nation Sport that they will be issuing a circular in the coming days to officially inform the public of the same as they explore other alternatives of revenue generation.
“We have had an internal meeting and we shall be communicating the changes soon because it looks unlikely that the former sponsors will be back with us in the near future,” Oguda said.
Aduda, who also doubles up as Tusker chairman, said that they had consulted their lawyers seeking clarification on certain issues, but that an agreement had been reached to drop the name “SportPesa” as they sources for a new sponsor.
SportPesa acquired the naming rights for the league in 2015 in deal reported to be worth Sh80 million a year.
The gaming company withdrew its sports sponsorship in Kenya after the government increased taxes levied on profits made by betting firms.
“Since last week, we have been awaiting advice from our lawyers who are looking at the letter from SportPesa and the contract we had with them. That is why the name hasn’t changed,” Aduda said.
“Remember also that we have the league awards gala this Friday which is sponsored by the same company. We didn’t want to jeopardise that. The name is definitely bound to change after that because we can’t attract a new title sponsor when we look like we have one.”
“We haven’t received any inquiries yet from other companies, but our marketing and sponsorship committee is already working on identifying potential partners. We hope that SportPesa will make headway with government soon so that they can return,” said Oguda.
The league managers have maintained the SportPesa name and logo despite the fact that the online betting firm announced their withdrawal from all local sports partnerships on Tuesday last week.
This was in light of government’s move to implement the 35 per cent tax on betting firms beginning January 1, a tax regime which SportPesa describes as “punitive and harmful to business”.
Optimism is however high among the sports entities affected by SportPesa’s withdrawal last week as the company engages the government in talks aimed at reviewing the new tax law.
Nation Sport has reliably learnt that the giant betting company has approached Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards with a view of resuming their partnership before the start of the new season.
Gor Mahia were in talks with Dafabet while Ingwe had approached Betika and other rival betting firms seeking shirt sponsorship for their clubs following SportPesa’s exit.
