KPL and Spanish La Liga strike deal

[PHOTO: COURTESY]

It was good news for Kenyan football after the top tier league announced its partnership with Spanish top league, La Liga.

Under the agreement, KPL will tap into the expertise of La Liga in a move that will not only help increase revenue, but also market the local league to a global audience.

Furthermore, Kenyan teams will also visit Spain for play build-up matches during the off-season.

Visiting La Liga President Javier Tabas and Kenyan Premier League chairman Ambrose Rachier unveiled the three-year deal yesterday.

Tabas said La Liga’s representative will be stationed in Kenya to help with the implementation of the agreement.

“We want to help Kenya change the way they manage the league. Such a change will help them increase revenues.

Our revenues doubled when we changed how we do things,” he said.

He said the partnership will also help television rights revenue when a new broadcaster is identified.

“We have great experience on how to increase marketing revenues for both the league and clubs and will share this so that it can benefit the KPL.”

The KPL chairman Ambrose Rachier said the partnership has come at the right time and they are keen to learn from the best.

“There is a lot for us to benefit from this partnership as La Liga is the best league in the world,” said the Gor Mahia chairman.

The local league has also built other partnerships with the English Premier League (EPL), PSL and Bundesliga.

SportPesa Chief Executive Ronald Karauri said the deal will help expose the KPL to a global audience.

He regretted that SuperSport had pulled out as broadcast sponsors, but expressed confidence that a new broadcaster will come on board soon.