29 Jul 2014

Sponsorship negotiations between be Mobile and Botswana Premier League have collapsed.

A press release from the premier league stated that following a board of governors meeting on July 27, they decided to find different partners.

With less than four weeks before the season officially kick starts, the board decided to look for other options after the discussions with be Mobile became unsuccessful.

be Mobile, a cellular phone service provider, came on board in 2008 after the Munhumutapa African Broadcasting Corporation saga and they then decided to sponsor the league with P15 million to for three years. 

In 2011, four months before the end of the first three-year contract, the company splashed P24 million on premier league. The money was used for the previous three seasons and P8 million was used every season. In the contract extension, be Mobile increased their sponsorship by 60 per cent.

The relationship between the two bodies went sour along the years due to contractual issues that included television rights, awards, and mobilisation funds for the premier league.

However, the tussle between premier league sponsors, be Mobile and the league office could not take away the contribution and development the partnership had brought to Botswana football. 

The network service provider swore to commit to the development of football in Botswana and their investment in the premier league drove local football towards professionalism. Among others, the league champion has since pocketed P1 million per season, something that was never done before.

Meanwhile, the amount of sponsorship money was one of the worrying factors in the contractual deal. Since be Mobile came on board, a number of companies started to sponsor individual teams.

In 2013, Gaborone United secured technical sponsorship money of P3.6 million for three years. Earlier this year Dynamic Insurance Brokers sponsored Police XI with P1 million for two years. 

Township Rollers also secured P1.2 million per season from Capital Bank. Extension Gunners, among others, received P2 million from the Dada and Ismail families.

That is just to mention a few and thus this has created an issue of concern for teams that do not have sponsors. Some teams have since received sponsorship that is more than the P1 million prize money. 

Therefore, it was in the premier league’s obligation to secure a sponsorship deal which will create equal opportunities for all the 16 teams.  ENDS