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m.dailyecho.co.uk/news/14652733.What_does_Saints__new_deal_with_Kenya_mean_for_the_club_and_country_/
Southampton UK:
IF any confirmation was needed that the
Premier League is a massive brand all over the world, it came this week when Saints revealed their latest commercial deal.
Club bosses have signed a three-year multi-million pound deal with SportPesa, Africa’s largest betting company, putting them at the centre of one of the competition’s fastest-growing markets.
African players have been a feature of English teams for several years with stars such as Kenyan Victor Wanyama and Senegal’s Sadio Mane gracing the St Mary’s pitch up to their summer moves to Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool respectively.
But now off-field commercial links are being forged with the continent.
In a statement the club said that as part of the agreement it would be sending staff to Kenya to develop new talent and young Kenyan players would be visiting the club’s Staplewood training centre.
The club will also offer advice and mentoring across a range of business areas including stadium operations, marketing, media and business management.
Saints chief executive Gareth Rogers said: “We are delighted to have teamed up with SportPesa in what is by far our biggest partnership in this sector in the club’s history, and one of our largest partnership deals to date.
“This partnership will allow the club to continue to build its partner portfolio for commercial success on an international scale.
"Our reputation for player development continues to resonate around the world and we look forward to sharing our unique philosophy in Kenya and across Africa.”
While Ronald Karauri, SportPesa chief executive, said the agreement would help develop the game at grassroots in Africa and would also assist in the company’s vision of Kenya qualifying for the 2022 World Cup.
SportPesa’s logo already appears on the Saints website and Mr Karuauris is keen to see his firm’s become a major presence in the UK.
News of the Saints contract came just 24 hours after SportPesa signed a three-year shirt-sponsorship deal with another Premier League club, Hull City.
Hull would not disclose figures but described deal as “the most lucrative” in its 112-year history. However Sportpesa’s Facebook page confirms the amount is £3million.
Mr Karauri said the investment in the club was “a big milestone” for SportPesa as it represented the “scaling of a Kenyan brand into the global market”.
“The SportPesa platform will now be available in the UK and later in the year present in several African countries,” Mr Karauri said. “One year from now, we will have presence in at least four continents.”
In February SportsPesa signed a deal to be Arsenal’s “official betting partner” in Africa.
Football and betting are billion dollar businesses across the global market.
Thanks to an agreement with Zimbabwe’s Econet media, Premier League games are available free-to-air in 50 Africa countries where the game is followed with a passion and an increasing number of fans are placing bets on matches.
According to the Casino News Today website the Kenyan gambling and sports betting industry was expected to generate 2.2 billion Kenyan shillings (Ks) in 2015 up ten per cent on the previous year.
SportPesa was founded just two years by Pevans East Africa, owned by Bulgarian tycoon Guerassim Nikolov. It has both cashed in on and cultivated the burgeoning betting culture.
After pumping in Ks400 million into setting up the business, Mr Nikolov told Kenya’s Daily Nation newspaper: “Kenyans have a fetish for sports, especially football, and SportPesa will bring the fans together where there is a likelihood of winning from bets.”.
Kenya now has more than 30 million mobile phone users and SportPesa operates online and via text message only. It has tens of thousands of users and its monthly net revenues are estimated to top $10million a month.
The growth of betting traffic means that SportPesa is now among biggest messaging customers for Kenya’s largest telecoms firm Safaricom.
Nairobi-based media monitoring agency Reelforge estimated that SportPesa was the 20th-biggest advertiser in Kenya last year, after more than tripling its spend since 2014.
Domestically, SportPesa already sponsors the Kenyan football league and two of its top teams – Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards. It is not restricting its endorsements to the round-ball game as it has also shelled out Ks607million to sponsor the Kenyan Rugby Union over the next five years.
Southampton UK:
IF any confirmation was needed that the
Premier League is a massive brand all over the world, it came this week when Saints revealed their latest commercial deal.
Club bosses have signed a three-year multi-million pound deal with SportPesa, Africa’s largest betting company, putting them at the centre of one of the competition’s fastest-growing markets.
African players have been a feature of English teams for several years with stars such as Kenyan Victor Wanyama and Senegal’s Sadio Mane gracing the St Mary’s pitch up to their summer moves to Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool respectively.
But now off-field commercial links are being forged with the continent.
In a statement the club said that as part of the agreement it would be sending staff to Kenya to develop new talent and young Kenyan players would be visiting the club’s Staplewood training centre.
The club will also offer advice and mentoring across a range of business areas including stadium operations, marketing, media and business management.
Saints chief executive Gareth Rogers said: “We are delighted to have teamed up with SportPesa in what is by far our biggest partnership in this sector in the club’s history, and one of our largest partnership deals to date.
“This partnership will allow the club to continue to build its partner portfolio for commercial success on an international scale.
"Our reputation for player development continues to resonate around the world and we look forward to sharing our unique philosophy in Kenya and across Africa.”
While Ronald Karauri, SportPesa chief executive, said the agreement would help develop the game at grassroots in Africa and would also assist in the company’s vision of Kenya qualifying for the 2022 World Cup.
SportPesa’s logo already appears on the Saints website and Mr Karuauris is keen to see his firm’s become a major presence in the UK.
News of the Saints contract came just 24 hours after SportPesa signed a three-year shirt-sponsorship deal with another Premier League club, Hull City.
Hull would not disclose figures but described deal as “the most lucrative” in its 112-year history. However Sportpesa’s Facebook page confirms the amount is £3million.
Mr Karauri said the investment in the club was “a big milestone” for SportPesa as it represented the “scaling of a Kenyan brand into the global market”.
“The SportPesa platform will now be available in the UK and later in the year present in several African countries,” Mr Karauri said. “One year from now, we will have presence in at least four continents.”
In February SportsPesa signed a deal to be Arsenal’s “official betting partner” in Africa.
Football and betting are billion dollar businesses across the global market.
Thanks to an agreement with Zimbabwe’s Econet media, Premier League games are available free-to-air in 50 Africa countries where the game is followed with a passion and an increasing number of fans are placing bets on matches.
According to the Casino News Today website the Kenyan gambling and sports betting industry was expected to generate 2.2 billion Kenyan shillings (Ks) in 2015 up ten per cent on the previous year.
SportPesa was founded just two years by Pevans East Africa, owned by Bulgarian tycoon Guerassim Nikolov. It has both cashed in on and cultivated the burgeoning betting culture.
After pumping in Ks400 million into setting up the business, Mr Nikolov told Kenya’s Daily Nation newspaper: “Kenyans have a fetish for sports, especially football, and SportPesa will bring the fans together where there is a likelihood of winning from bets.”.
Kenya now has more than 30 million mobile phone users and SportPesa operates online and via text message only. It has tens of thousands of users and its monthly net revenues are estimated to top $10million a month.
The growth of betting traffic means that SportPesa is now among biggest messaging customers for Kenya’s largest telecoms firm Safaricom.
Nairobi-based media monitoring agency Reelforge estimated that SportPesa was the 20th-biggest advertiser in Kenya last year, after more than tripling its spend since 2014.
Domestically, SportPesa already sponsors the Kenyan football league and two of its top teams – Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards. It is not restricting its endorsements to the round-ball game as it has also shelled out Ks607million to sponsor the Kenyan Rugby Union over the next five years.
