Betsson AB has confirmed its intention to enter the Kenyan sports betting marketplace after starting a joint venture with Bet High Ltd. Yesterday, Kenyan media reported that Betsson’s flagship sportsbook subsidiary Betsafe had replaced blacklisted SportPesa as shirt sponsor of KPL football clubs Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards. Betsafe is yet to register its Kenya Betting Control Board (BCLB) licence. …
Read More »Tag Archives: Gor Mahia
SportPesa sponsorship termination triggers Kenyan football crisis
Kenyan football is involved in the escalating tax dispute between the Uhuru Kenyatta government and the betting industry, after SportPesa – the title sponsor of the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) – confirmed that it has terminated all national sports sponsorships. Closing Friday trading, SportPesa issued a media statement confirming that it would withdraw all sports sponsorships, as it had been ‘subjected to punitive …
Read More »Hull City FC builds Kenyan community profile with SportPesa
Kenyan bookmaker SportPesa, the lead sponsor of Championship football club Hull City FC, has deemed The Tigers pre-season of tour of Kenya ‘a roaring success’. Ahead of the start of the English football season, Hull City FC’s first team and management toured Kenya as part of the club’s social commitment with sponsor SportPesa. The tour saw The Tigers’ first-team visit …
Read More »SportPesa and Everton praised for East African efforts
SportPesa and Everton Football Club have seen their partnership rewarded, at the recent Sports Industry Awards function held in Johannesburg, South Africa. Scooping the Best African Sponsorship and Pan-Africa Campaign of the Year awards, the sponsorship has been celebrated for bringing Premier League football to East Africa for the first time. Mark Rollings, Head of Partnership Management at Everton Football …
Read More »How Kenya’s gambling tax hike could affect its economy
In June 2017, Kenya’s president Uhuru Kenyatta signed into law a 35% tax on all gambling revenue from the country’s lotteries, betting operators, online sportsbooks, and similar. This rate is now one of the highest in the world, and is in addition to a 30% corporate tax operators must also pay. The new rate is a major increase from the …
Read More »SportPesa CEO seeks open dialogue with Kenyan government
Following the termination of all SportPesa Kenyan sports sponsorships, Chief Executive Ronald Karauri has defended his firm’s position against MP backlash. Entering 2018, Karauri ordered SportPesa to suspend all active sports sponsorships in protest of the Kenyan TNA government’s blanket 35% tax hike on betting and lottery services. During 2017 High Court hearings, Karauri had previously warned the government that …
Read More »SportPesa blackout hurts Kenyan Football funding
The Football Kenya Federation (FKF) faces a funding crisis as bookmaker SportPesa has terminated all Kenyan sports sponsorships, due to the government upholding its 35% blanket tax charge on betting and lottery services. This January, the Kenyan TNA government will move to implement its much protested 35% industry tax hike, which has been deemed as ‘unworkable’ by Kenya pro-betting stakeholders. …
Read More »Unworkable 35% gambling tax sees Sportpesa suspend all Kenyan sports sponsorships
Kenyan sports betting operator Sportpesa has announced that it will end all forms of sponsorship with national sports clubs and bodies, as the operator deems Kenya’s 35% betting/gambling tax to be unworkable. This weekend Sportpesa CEO Ronald Karauri detailed to Kenya news sources, that his firm would suspend all sponsorships with sports stakeholders from January. Speaking to local press, Karauri …
Read More »SportPesa signs shirt sponsorship deal with Hull City
It has been revealed that SportPesa, a bookmaker based in Kenya, has signed a three year deal with Hull City to become the club’s new official shirt sponsor. The agreement is said to be the most lucrative in the Tigers’ history and it’s also a clear signal of intent from the bookmaker. Simon King, Commercial Manager at Hull City Tigers, …
Read More »SportPesa announces sponsorship of AFC Leopards
In a conference held yesterday sports betting operator SportPesa was announced as the official shirt sponsor of Kenyan club AFC Leopards in a five year deal. The ceremony was attended by SportPesa CEO Ronald Karauri, Football Kenya Federation President Nick Mwendwa, Leopards Co-Chairman Dan Mule and a host of former players amongst others including Kenyan footballing legend Joe Kadenge. The Nairobi side …
Read More »