The national broadcaster KBC has announced its acquisition of free-to-air rights for the Kenyan Premier League, along with audio rights for its 13 radio stations.
This development was made public at an event held at the Talanta Plaza on Thursday.
Football fans in Kenya will now have even more access to live matches, highlights, and in-depth analysis of the FKF Premier League thanks to the inclusion of KBC's free-to-air coverage.
Sports Cabinet Secretary, Ababu Namwamba, said they had spent several days trying to establish common ground in the contract, and he was pleased with the traction the parties had gained.
"We have spent a lot of time on this deal. Let me admit that I'm the reason why this deal was delayed to be made public. I delayed this deal for a few factors. Firstly, I wanted more money for clubs and, secondly, I wanted an arrangement whereby a team gets something for the position they finish on the log," Ababu said.
"It must mean something to finish number two, it must mean something to finish number 10 and not number 17. The position a team finishes on the log should be directly commensurate with the package it gets."
However, Ababu regretted not being able to get a piece of the agreement for both the national second-tier league and the women's league. "I wanted girls to be part of this but FKF gave me a long story on why girls cannot be part of this package. I wanted to have the National SuperLeague as part of the deal but I was also given another long story," he said.
"But I'm happy that for a start, we are providing 1.6 million dollars. That guarantees every single team in the KPL Sh10 million. And then we have another package for where you finish on the log.
FKF president Nick Mwendwa said he was equally excited they would finally have their matches beamed live all over the country.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a deal. We did a deal for Pay TV with Azam. Most Pay TV partners don't allow you to do free-to-air deals. But since we had been talking with CS Ababu for a long time about this idea, we made sure that the contract we signed with Azam allowed us to have free-to-air TV," Mwendwa remarked.
"The deal we have signed is 750,000 dollars for free-to-air and 500,000 dollars for radio," Mwendwa added.
Samuel Maina, KBC managing director, reaffirmed the broadcaster's dedication to using a variety of media outlets they own to bring their audience closer to top-notch local and worldwide sporting events.
KBC has agreed to provide the league with a hefty investment of Sh240million as part of this ground-breaking arrangement.
The historic agreement between KBC and FKF is expected to enhance the current broadcasting setup for Kenyan football.
Tanzanian broadcaster Azam TV and FKF recently inked a seven-year agreement for more than Sh145 million.
With the addition of KBC's free-to-air coverage, football enthusiasts across Kenya will have even greater access to live matches, highlights, and in-depth analysis of the FKF Premier League.
