BetKing unveiled as KPL title sponsor in landmark deal

Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Thursday officially unveiled betting company BetKing Kenya as the new title sponsor of Kenya’s top-tier league, the Kenyan Premier League (KPL).

Following the deal, the topflight league will now be referred to as the BetKing Premier League (BPL).

Speaking at Kandanda House, Kasarani on Thursday morning, an excited FKF President Nick Mwendwa termed the sponsorship as a game-changer that would place the league at the same level with top African leagues such as South Africa's Premier Soccer League (PSL).

“This is not just a story – it is real and I am very happy that in the middle of football politics sponsors have come to us that shows we have done well. BetKing was very proactive and willing to complete this deal in good time and get to work as soon as possible,” Mwendwa said.

The deal will see the gaming company founded in Nigeria, pump in around Sh 1.2 billion for the next five years with Mwendwa revealing each club will receive around Sh8 million per season as grants.

Interestingly, no representative from the betting company was present during the announcement but Mwendwa revealed an official launch would happen in September.

“We are receiving the first deposit from BetKing in the next seven days and I will sit down with all the clubs and discuss on how to spend this money. We are also in talks with more sponsors and this figure could go up soon. We want the top Kenyan league to be among the best in Africa, be in the same or higher level than the PSL and the other good leagues in the continent,” Mwendwa said.

Mwendwa also revealed a small percentage of the sponsorship money would support the Kenya Women Premier League (KWPL).

“We will forego the licensing fees, around Sh 12million, and pump this money straight into the Women League. Women Football is a very important part of our agenda and we are interested in getting more money pumped into it," he added.

Mwendwa disclosed all top-tier clubs will have BetKing logo on the sleeves of their jerseys. It will be interesting to see how they navigate this as other clubs such as Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards also recently announced BetSafe as their new shirt sponsor.

BetKing will also sponsor the end of season awards gala. Mwendwa also announced that plans are underway to launch Super 16, a tournament that will involve top eight teams from the two top leagues, the BPL and NSL.

He also revealed that from next season all top-tier league matches will be live on an application with subscribers paying to watch the games.

“All the games will be live on a digital app that can be downloaded from AppStore and PlayStore. Subscribers will pay Sh 200 to watch a game of their choice and this will add up to the revenue that goes to the clubs,” an elated Mwendwa said. “Our promise when we came to power was to change the game and we have been doing that. This is a new beginning for us and in our second term we will actualize most of the things we promised.”