Monetise league matches
The Football Kenya Federation Premier League match between AFC Leopards and Gor Mahia played on Sunday at Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi attracted great interest locally, revealing its revenue potential for the clubs and the federation.
In the end, home team AFC Leopards announced that Sh3.3 million was realised through gate collection from the match, which was attended by more than 10,000 fans.
A total of 461 VIP tickets were sold and 9,565 tickets to fans in the terraces, a statement from AFC Leopards said.
The team realised Sh2,869,500 from the sale of regular tickets, and Sh461,000 was collected through the sale of VIP tickets.
These figures show that, if well-marketed, local football can yield good commercial value for clubs and the federation.
No sponsor
Local football administrators and club officials should exploit this potential to improve their financial standing, given that the local league has no sponsor.
It is shocking that the match, popularly known as ‘Mashemeji derby’, was neither broadcast nor streamed live on the internet for the benefit of both fans and the teams involved.
AFC Leopards had wanted to stream the match on the internet for fans to watch at a fee but the plan suffered a setback after FKF insisted that the match would not be streamed live for commercial purposes without a prior agreement on how the money realised would be shared with the club.
The federation, which owns the broadcast rights of the league, however, allowed Leopards to live stream the match for the benefit of the public, and offer it free of charge to fans.
The match was neither broadcast on TV nor on the internet, and AFC Leopards lost commercially.
Because FKF Premier League does not have a title sponsor, the federation should seek an amicable solution to the debacle so that clubs don’t lose much-needed revenue.
Before securing a title sponsor for the league, FKF should engage clubs to monetise the league since most of the teams are cash-strapped.
