KPL - SUPERSPORT SPONSORSHIP DEAL

Kenya Premier League (KPL) and South African sports broadcaster Supersport International officially launched their Sh932 million four year deal on Friday. The deal which was approved and signed in November last year is expected to revolutionalize league football in the country with Sh.340 million being spent on the television rights and Sh.552 million to be invested in new media rights, production costs and website maintenance. All 16 clubs are expected to benefit from the partnership with each receiving an initial grant of Sh800,000 to help start their 2008 Premier League campaigns and will receive regular grants throughout the year

Kenya Football Federation (KFF) has also benefited from the partnership after the KPL paid an all inclusive annual affiliation fee of Sh250,000 the largest ever to be paid to the governing body.

KPL chairman Bob Munro hailed the new partnership saying that it heralds a new chapter for the nation's most popular sport.

“It's a new dawn for KPL and Kenya football and professionalism on and off the field and the start of a new era which underpins all the above and our partnership with Supersport,” said Munro.

Munro added that the leagues partnership with Supersport is built on a shared vision that will benefit the game in the region.

“That vision and those objectives include making the KPL one of the most professional and top leagues in East Africa and in the rest of the continent because the way our partnership is working and will continue to work will be provide a model for the rest of Africa to follow,” said Munro.

KFF vice chairman Titus Kasuve welcomed this development and said that it will have a positive influence on the performance of Harambee Stars.

“Players from the national team are drawn from the Premier League clubs. We are very excited now that the clubs now will be able to feed the national team and I'm assuring the African continent that Harambee Stars is going to be a shocker starting in June,” said Kasuve.

Supersport Director of Operations for sub-Saharan Africa Andre Venter who was present at the launch said that the deal is in line with his company's strategy to expand across the continent.

“From our point of view, this is part of our major drive across Africa. It follows a similar deal that we have in Nigeria which was then followed by a deal with Zambian football and more recently in Angola,” said Venter.

“One of our objectives is to assist the KPL in growing this league to its potential which could be making it one of the greatest leagues on the African continent,” he added.

The launch which was also attended by Supersport football presenter Thomas Mulambo also witnessed the unveiling of the league's logo and motto.

The league's official website ‘www.kpl.co.ke' was also unveiled and will provide Kenyan football fans with fixtures, results and logs, the latest news, press releases, club information, player profiles and detailed information on the KPL structures.

Other additional features of the partnership include a significant investment in infrastructure and personnel in support of the partnership, development of new skills and jobs locally by training local television crews, presenters and commentators, organization of workshops and seminars for club officials on improving club management, marketing, sponsorship and advertising.

Two top KPL officials will be trained at the Supersport Executive Sports management Programme at the Wits University Business School in Johannesburg.

A Kenyan team will also be invited to take part in the annual Supersport Under-19 Cup, a knockout tournament featuring leading teams from South Africa and Africa.