Time to spread the magic of Mashemeji Derby is now

It’s Kenya’s iconic football fixture. Any time AFC Leopards meet Gor Mahia FC, we are sure to get the stories emblematic of the best derbies in the world. Last Sunday, the 92nd edition was played. 

The Mashemeji Derby is great and historical in many ways but one magical story has never been told about it: It is Kenya’s longest-running and biggest paid-up event by far in attendance and gate collection.

Last Sunday, they started the year in style with slightly above 10,000 paid-up fans and a gate collection of Sh3.3 million. Only another edition of this clash or a big-ticket match by one of the two clubs can match up to that in any industry.

When the doom and gloom stories are written about Kenyan football, it is the sweet magical stories like this that are overlooked. Few have ever imagined that Kenya’s biggest events week in, week out, are football events featuring either of the two teams. Only an in-form Harambee Stars can beat these stats and we haven’t seen that in a decade. The two clubs and the derby have, season in, and season out.

Even with these impressive numbers, the two clubs are hardly near their potential. If our media could draw just 10 per cent of the attention they give the English Premier League to our game, sold-out stadiums would be the order of the day.

Sunday’s fixture stands out because it was actually low-key leading to the game. There wasn’t much noise about it in the media save for a last-minute upsurge in interest. The clubs didn’t even hold a pre-match build-up press conference or such activation. Its storylines were few. There were no impact characters, like star players, to hype the match.

Kenyan football overlooked

This derby is emblematic of just how much Kenyan football is overlooked and maligned—yet, on the pitch, thousands of players and officials are turning out fixtures and results every week behind a media blackout. The world over, live sports content accounts for eight out of 10 of the biggest TV broadcasts.

It is absurd that there is little to no live sports events on TV yet live sports is the last holdout content for traditional television. That Kenya doesn’t have a sports TV station begs belief when almost every pastor worth his salt has a 24-hour one.

The mention of content creation brings up skits, yet our sports is a bountiful goldmine waiting to be broadcast. For a long time, our sports gaze has been firmly fixed on the EPL, which has become our national pastime and lead banter generator.

The legendary sports product is increasingly edging out even the other premier European leagues. It’s a global economy. In Kenya, it is worth billions of shillings.

But 30 years on, the EPL is also increasingly getting farmed out. For a growing number, it is a product to be enjoyed but with the desire for something more local and more intimate.

An entire subculture of Kenyan football enthusiasts and content creators is emerging away from the bright lights of our media. A very small section of early adopters has embraced the sport and are driving it, armed with little more than their enthusiasm and phones. 

As the government signals a football revival through grassroots tournaments, reimagine the apex of the sport. There are many other community clubs pulling crowds. This is where most of the talent scouted in the bottom-up tourneys will end up.

It’s crucial that a community clubs’ tournament is also funded. There are other derbies out there waiting to be revealed. In the meantime, Kenya’s biggest event, the Mashemeji Derby, leads the way.

Mr Nkaari is a local football enthusiast. [email protected].