Online betting firm SportPesa has become the first Kenyan company to sponsor an English Premier League club after it signed a three-year deal with Hull City.
The firm will have its name and company logo on Hull City’s home, away and third shirts for the 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons, according to information on the club’s website. “The new sponsorship deal is the most lucrative in the Club’s proud 112-year history,” read a statement on the Tigers website.
SportPesa Chief Executive Officer Ronald Karauri said: “This is a big milestone for SportPesa as it marks the scaling of a Kenyan brand into the global market. “The SportPesa platform will now be available in the United Kingdom and later in the year present in several African countries. One year from now we will have [a] presence in at least four continents.
“Part of our deal will see The Tigers be the first English Premier League team ever to come to Kenya to play a select side as part of our campaign towards having Kenya compete in the World Cup for the first time in 2022.”
The deal, whose monetary value was not revealed by either party, is believed to be worth millions of sterling pounds. Simon King, Hull City’s commercial manager, said: “We are delighted to form a three-year partnership with SportPesa.
“SportPesa are so much more than a betting brand, this is a company with a huge footprint across grassroots sport in Kenya, as well as the rest of Africa. “The deal is by far the largest in our history and a sign of our ambition to grow our Club and become a household name in our sport globally,” said Mr King.
Immediately after the signing of the deal, the English Premier League side posted on its Twitter page pictures of its players modelling the new kit at the KCOM Stadium, and another photo of Mr Karauri displaying Hull’s new home kit with SportPesa’s name and logo, their new shirt sponsors, emblazoned on the front.
The partnership with Hull City comes after what is seen as a vicious expansionist strategy by the bookmakers, which has seen them enter into other deals with the Kenya Rugby Union (Ksh607 million), Kenyan Premier League (Ksh450 million), Gor Mahia (Ksh325 million) and AFC Leopards (Ksh225 million), among others.
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