Betika sponsors NSL to a tune of Sh90m
Betika’s Head of Commercial John Mbatia (left) hands over a Sh90 million dummy cheque to FKF president Nick Mwendwa meant for sponsorship of the National Super League for three years. PD/ RODGERS NDEGWA
By Charles Thuku and Barry Silah
The national Super League (NSL) is set for a dawn of a new era as for the first time, it has received title sponsorship worth millions of shillings from betting firm Betika.
Yesterday, Betika announced a Sh90 million sponsorship deal with Football Kenya Federation (FKF) top facilitate the second tier league in a three-year partnership deal with Sh30 million of the kitty being disbursed to the governing body each year.
The 20-team league will now be known as Betika National Super League with all the 20 participating teams competing for a coveted winners cup during the September 2019 to May 2020 season.
Speaking during the signing of the deal with Betika, FKF president Nick Mwendwa said out of the Sh30 million annual package, Sh15 million will be injected directly to clubs with the rest of the money going towards meeting the administrative costs of running the league.
Further, Mwendwa, said each club will get a certain amount to meet the costs of honouring matches besides paying the referees. Under the sponsorship, each team will get Sh750,000 per annum and in-kind provision of balls, nets and other sports equipment. Through the sponsorship, Betika will be the sole and official grassroots football partner for FKF with Sh45 million going directly to financing grass-roots activities across the 47 counties.
“This is a milestone which comes at an opportune time when the federation has several challenges including lack of sponsorship of the league after SportPesa pulled out a few months ago. This is a bold step by Betika and I wish to acknowledge the company and I assure them of a good working relationship with the federation for the three-year period,” said Mwendwa.
The deal was announced through the recently launched ‘Betika na Community Initiative’, which aims at investing in the youth by nurturing talent through Sports, Arts and Culture events.
Betika Commercial Head John Mbatia said: “This partnership confirms our commitment on investing in the community through sports, arts and culture with football being a key focus.”
Meanwhile, after receiving the financial boost, the league has lined up nine midweek matches at different venues with the key highlight being the match between title rivals Nairobi City Stars and Ushuru at Hope Centre.
