Clubs Panic as Betway Plans to Exit Uganda Market
Betway sports betting company, which has operated in Uganda for the last seven years has been a major sponsor for different sports clubs including Uganda Premier League champions Express FC, Basketball Club Betway Powe, and Kobs Rugby Club. The same company sponsored Arua-based club Onduparaka back in 2016.
Several sports are in panic following an impending announcement by Betway sports betting company to quit the Ugandan market.
Althoughthe company is yet to announce its exit, a top official confirmed the move,saying they will make the announcement at the right time.
Betway sports betting company, which has operated inUganda for the last seven years has been a major sponsor for different sportsclubs including Uganda Premier League champions Express FC,Basketball Club Betway Powe, and Kobs Rugby Club. Thesame company sponsored Arua-based club Onduparaka back in 2016.
The abrupt exit of the company will therefore leave a hugevacuum among clubs that have been relying onits sponsorship. In an interaction with Uganda Radio Network-URNLivingstone Luggya, the Chairperson of Kobs Rugby Club said thatBetway has been their main sponsor since it came on board in 2017.
“Wehad a running contract until December 2022 and we were supposed to negotiate inDecember but they communicated to us that they will not renew so it put us in atight spot,” Luggybriefly told URN.
Although Luggya never wanted to disclose what was in theirpartnership with Betway throughout that period, he revealed that Kobs have been able to achieve many things courtesy ofsupport from the betting company.
Amongthe key issues, he raised, is the winning bonus of Shillings One million the club received everytime they registered victory among others, saying this would boost the morale of their playersevery time they entered the pitch.
Kobs Rugby is already taking part in the UgandaRugby Premier league that kicked off this month. The Kobs are the defendingchampions of the national rugby league after beating second-placed Black Pirates 15- to win theirfirst title in five years. It remains unclear whether the team will remaincompetitive after the departure of its main sponsor.
//Cue in: "Betway has been …
Cue out: … renew the contract,”//
Allan Musoke, the General manager of Betway Power Basketball Clubtold URN that the club was hot because of the overwhelming support, the companygave them on and off the field. He says that they havesince embarked on looking foranother sponsor to push the club forward.
//Cue in: of course, we are …
Cue out: … someone else,”//
Musoke said that Betway Power also had a runningcontract that was ending at the end of March 2022. He, however, explained thateverything in the contract was fulfilled.
//Cue in: “the contract was …
Cue out: … being dropped on you,”//
In November 2018, Betway announced that they hadentered a partnership with Express FC that saw them injecting Shillings 400million into the club. The contract allowed Betway to own naming rights of Express FC stadium and also appear on the team’s jersey.The contract was later renewed in 2020.
Tabbu Peter, the communications manager at Express FC, said that the club had a contractthat was running until the end of the current Uganda Premier League season butthe exit of Betway leaves a vacuum in the club.
“We had a running contract and it was going up tothe end of this current season.They sent us a letter,saying they had gone back, and they couldn’t stay in the market anymore, sothere was no option really but the CEO and everyone at the club are workingtowards ensuring that we get another partner,”he said.
Adding that “They had fulfilled what was in the contract until they indicated that they couldn’t stay inthe market. We arenot the only affected people, that’s something we could not have control over”.
Just like Betway Kobs, Express FC’s partnershipwith Betway yielded big when the red Eaglesscooped last season’s Star Times Uganda Premier league trophy after spendingover twelve years without winning the league. They also wonthe regional CECAFA Kagame Cup.p.
