Kenya to rename premier league after sponsor exit

Kenya fans

Wednesday Jan 10, 2018. 10:30

After parting ways with sponsors SportPesa, the Kenyan Premier League is set to revert to its original name as soon as possible.

According to KPL CEO Jack Oguda and chairman Dan Aduda, they will be issuing a circular in the coming days to officially inform the public of the same as they explore other alternatives of revenue generation.

Speaking to the Daily Nation, Aduda said they consulted their lawyers to clarify a number of issues before making an announcement.

It is revealed that SportPesa acquired the naming rights for the league in 2015 in a deal reported to be worth Sh80 million a year.

However, the gaming and betting company withdrew its sponsorship in Kenya after the government increased taxes levied on profits made by betting firms.

“We have had an internal meeting and we shall be communicating the changes soon because it looks unlikely that the former sponsors will be back with us in the near future,” Oguda said.

“We haven’t received any inquiries yet from other companies, but our marketing and sponsorship committee is already working on identifying potential partners.

“We hope that SportPesa will make headway with government soon so that they can return.”

On the other hand, Aduda added that they have written a letter to SportPesa regarding the proposed change in as far as the league name is concerned.

“Since last week, we have been awaiting advice from our lawyers who are looking at the letter from SportPesa and the contract we had with them. That is why the name hasn’t changed,” Aduda adds.

“Remember also that we have the league awards gala this Friday which is sponsored by the same company. We didn’t want to jeopardise that.

"The name is definitely bound to change after that because we can’t attract a new title sponsor when we look like we have one.”