Hardly a month after unveiling Betking as the title sponsor for the top flight,Football Kenya Federation yesterday confirmed StarTimes as their new broadcast partner for the next ten years.
According to source at Kandanda House who sought anonymity, the deal will see clubs which have already been assured of Sh8million per season from the Betking pact boost their earnings to at least Sh12 million per season, thanks to the monetary thrust from StarTimes.
The federation is looking forward to taking over the management of the competition once their contract with the Kenyan Premier League expires on September 24.
Already, a five-man transitional committee which was elected by club chairmen last month is working on the final stages on the proposals and modalities on how the league will be manned going forward.
During the unveiling of the title sponsor who will bankroll the league to a tune of 1.2 billion in the next five years, FKF president Nick Mwendwa hinted that they were on course to source for a broadcast partner in a bid to revamp the competition.
He also assured that all top flight matches would be beamed live on an online application with subscribers parting with at least Sh200 to watch a match of their choice.
"I can confirm that StarTimes will be our broadcast partner for the next ten years. However, I am not in a position to disclose the monetary value of it. We have been in negotiations for months with other partners but StarTimes fit the bill.We were satisfied with what they were offering in terms of money and quality of production. Clubs are already sure of getting Sh8 million from Betking and StarTimes will top up the amount to at least Sh12 million per season," said the source
Meanwhile, the source disclosed that the deal will be formally unveiled possibly at the end of the month.
He said the move by Cabinet Secretary, Amina Mohamed to give stakeholders a seven day window to give their feedback on the proposed draft on resumption of sports signalled that the new season would kick off soon hence the need to finalise on ensuring that that clubs will have sufficient money unlike last season.
"We are almost finalising everything and there is a big possibility that we will unveil the partnership at the end of the month," he said.
