A number of premier league teams have signed partnerships with sports betting companies in Kenya with others an inch closer to deals. Odibets has  been having a grassroot partnership deal that the country marketing manager Aggrey Sayi thinks is a bit “different”.

“A lot of Kenyan football teams (KPL) have deals with gaming companies similar to what we had with premier league side Mathare United last year. The Odibets kits initiative is a grassroot movement that seeks to connect and associate with ordinary football teams across the country as our name suggests,” he said.

“We want to be associated with “ordinary” brands in the grassroots although we cannot rule out partnerships with bigger teams” he added.

The Odibets kits initiative has seen the company not only distribute over 35,000 kits in the first year to teams all over the country, but has also helped showcase grassroot talents across Nairobi to Swedish football scouts in collaboration with Atotos. Atotos is associated with the former Kenya national team coach Jacob Ghost Mulee and others who are passionate about grassroot football. 

With fans able to place their bets online via Odibets.com and through SMS via Safaricom short code 29680, we asked Aggrey to give us the status of their licence and the future of betting in Kenya.

“Oh, as Odibets we don’t want to mess with the laws of the day,” Aggrey said. “We have seen how they can tackle you.” Adding that their licence is validated as they continue to abide by the rules and laws set by the regulators, parliament and tax authorities.