Billionaire-Backed Betting Firm Sponsors Mathare United After Entering Kenya

Mathare United players at an event to launch a new shirt sponsorship deal with Triple5 Bet on December 1, 2020
Mathare United players at an event to launch a new shirt sponsorship deal with Triple5 Bet on December 1, 2020

Triple5 Bet, a recent entrant into Kenya’s crowded betting market, on Tuesday, December 1 unveiled a sponsorship deal with Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Premier League side Mathare United.

Triple5 Bet will be the side’s shirt sponsor, with their logo prominently displayed on the front of Mathare United jerseys.

Mathare United will wear the new-look jerseys for their first match of the FKFPL season away to Zoo Kericho on Wednesday, November 9.

The sponsorship was unveiled at a Nairobi hotel, with the club’s players and officials among those in attendance.

Mathare United previously had Mozzart Bet as their shirt sponsors. A one-year deal signed in 2019 expired at the end of the 2019/2020 season.

Mathare United players at a Nairobi hotel for the launch of a shirt sponsorship deal with Triple5 Bet on December 1, 2020
Mathare United players at a Nairobi hotel for the launch of a shirt sponsorship deal with Triple5 Bet on December 1, 2020

The team’s new signings posed with sponsor-less jerseys in their unveiling photoshoots during the recently concluded transfer window.

READ>>>>>Sports Betting Firm Backed By UK Billionaires Enters Kenya

In a pointer to the influence of the betting industry in Kenyan sports, Mathare United’s last three shirt sponsors have been betting firms.

Before Mozzart Bet, the team had a multi-year deal with OdiBets, one of the more established betting brands.

OdiBets currently sponsors the second-tier of Kenyan football, the National Super League (NSL), as well as the FKF County Leagues.

The FKFPL itself welcomed a Nigerian betting firm, Betking, as its title sponsor for the next five seasons beginning with the 2020/21 campaign.

Triple5 Bet Operations Manager Jack Spencer revealed in August that the firm was backed by deep-pocketed British investors and had partnered with leading UK betting firms to launch in Kenya.

Triple5 Bet received its Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB) license under a company known as Croissance Limited.

The company vowed to support grassroots football and sports in Kenya as it looks to secure a foothold in the market.

“It’s noteworthy that our focus is mainly on teams at the grassroots level. Our motive is to hone sporting talent. This will potentially accord young sportspeople a path to livelihood as well as bring sporting glory to the country,” Spencer noted at the time.

He further promised that the company would introduce the largest jackpot offered by betting firms operating in the country.

“It could be anywhere in the range of Ksh100 million to Ksh500million,” he stated.

READ>>>>>How Mobile Phones Have Helped the African Betting Market Grow

 

Picture of MARTIN SIELE
MARTIN SIELE
Martin K.N Siele is the Content Lead at Business Today. He is also a Quartz contributor and a 2021 Baraza Media Lab-Fringe Graph Data Storytelling Fellow. Passionate about digital media, sports and entertainment, Siele also founded Loud.co.ke

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