SportPesa, Gor offer hope for Kenyan football

Gor Mahia FC are riding on the crest of a wave, an enviable position even their most faithful of supporters wouldn’t have imagined just weeks ago.

It couldn’t have crossed the mind of die-hard fan “Jaro Soldier”, the self-styled “commander” of Gor’s “Green Army”, that K’Ogalo would be playing in the group stage of Caf Confederation Cup, Africa’s second-tier but nonetheless lucrative club tournament.

And that they would match, toe-to-toe, English Championship side Hull City in a much hyped up, SportPesa-organised friendly at Kasarani was only stuff dreams are made of.

But, yes, they have pulled it off, and Kenya’s most decorated club is firmly back on the road to greatness.

Thanks mainly to input from gaming firm SportPesa, Gor’s fortunes have shifted overnight from begging bowls to massive cash transfers into their erstwhile depleted bank accounts.

It took a philanthropic gesture from ebullient Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko for K’Ogalo to purchase flight tickets and secure logistics support for their return match of the Confederation Cup away to SuperSport United at the Lucas Moripe Stadium last month.

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And, against all odds, they silenced the over-rated South Africans to qualify for the group stages where they are drawn against Rwanda’s Rayon Sport, Tanzania’s Young Africans FC (Yanga) and Algeria’s USM Alger.

High on adrenaline, Gor snatched a 1-1 draw away to Rayon Sport in a game they should, however, have won easily. It was more of two points lost than a point gained at the Nyamirambo Stadium. And then came last Sunday’s much trumpeted challenge against Hull City at an overflowing Moi International Sports Centre.

Again, Gor ought to have easily tamed the “Tigers” from Yorkshire but, just as was the case in Rwanda, they wasted gilt-edged chances.

However, what struck me was neither the 90 minutes of play at Kasarani, nor spot kicks thereafter, but the avalanche of fans that trooped into the 60,000-seater stadium which was packed to the rafters (It beats me how just Sh3.6 million was raised from the gates!).

It was an awesome advertisement of the Kenyan game. Perhaps also a serious indictment of how badly it’s run.

It was proof that a football match, or any other sport for that matter, if well-packaged, can draw the masses through the turnstiles.

The massive turnout at Kasarani should tell the Kenyan Premier League Limited (KPL) in particular, and Kenyan clubs, along with Football Kenya Federation (FKF) in general, that there’s something they’re getting awfully wrong in managing and marketing our game.

It should also inform the government that without serious infrastructure, Kenyan sport will continue to endure stunted growth. I agree with SportPesa CEO Ronald Karauri’s assertion that Gor has developed into a brand that represents Kenyan football, and can only grow bigger with continued focused leadership and results.

“They really are focused on being the biggest team in Africa,” Karauri observed Monday as we analysed Sunday’s game. “Kenyans now see Gor as a football brand to be proud of.”

CONTRAST

Coupled with the fact that Hull City’s visit was the first to Kenya by an English league club in over three decades, fans were eager to see how we measure up to the much talked about European outfits. Interestingly, SportPesa didn’t break the bank to run an advertising campaign, but rather used existing assets to draw fans to Kasarani. It’s not rocket science.

“The game advertises itself,” as Karauri rightly observes. And once fans see good football, they will get hooked.

Gor must now ride on their new-found love from fans to bring them even closer Wednesday night when they host Algeria’s USM Alger in their second group game of the Confederation Cup.

FKF too must ride on this success to reclaim fans Harambee Stars lost due to pedestrian play, lacklustre marketing of the game and poor management.

The government should appreciate SportPesa’s role in the revival of sport by forging partnerships rather than being on opposite end of bitter exchanges like what we saw in the war over increased taxation on gaming.

The Hull City game may have been a one-off spectacle, but it certainly provided a much-desired case study on the potential Kenyan football holds.

It thoroughly overshadowed Safaricom’s otherwise well-meaning “Chapa Dimba” initiative in which two sets of Kenyan teams visited London at the weekend on a mentorship programme featuring Tottenham Hotspur’s Harambee Stars captain Victor Wanyama.

While SportPesa were spot-on with their organisation and marketing of the Gor vs Hull game, Safaricom got it horribly wrong on the London trip.

Journalists were ignored with boarding passes handed to a cocktail of joy-riders more excited about posing for selfies with Wanyama than celebrating “Chapa Dimba” champions Kapenguria Heroes and Plateau Queens coronation.
What a contrast!