Kenyan Premier League has signed a contract with Barcelona, Spain based multimedia communications group Mediapro as their new television production partner, Soka25east can reveal.
In the deal, Mediapro/KPL will produce matches and in turn give out the feed with production quality expected to be the best as they will put quality control measures knowing well the value of their product.
They will use ten high definition cameras per game.
Bamba Sports were the league’s last media/TV production partner in a six month Free to Air deal worth Kshs 36.7m as a stopgap measure to cover for the exit of Supersport early 2017 season.
They nonetheless failed to deliver on quality production.
KPL already invited bid for broadcast rights with the process expected to shape up Friday when those who applied will be revealed.
The winner (s) will air the Mediapro productions on FTA.
Some of the companies that are believed to have expressed interest include former broadcaster Supersport, Kwese Sports and StarTimes.
However, the process may run into legal battles as Bamba have gone to court to stop it saying they hold the rights which they bought from rights broker Andrea Francesco Silva for a period starting 2018 to 2022.
“I have been informed that Bamba have moved to court, but I haven’t seen the documents so I’m not in a position to comment on the matter,” Rachier, who is a lawyer by profession said.
KPL holds that they do not have any contract with Bamba apart from the six months deal they signed to see the league through during the turbulent period.
According to sources, KPL is uncomfortable continuing with Bamba as Silva wants as they failed to deliver quality production due to limited resources.
Apart from quality issues, KPL is also citing them for breach of contract for failing on their obligation to pay monthly grant of Kshs 6m.
Bamba’s coverage is an issue KPL is not happy with as fans outside Nairobi find it impossible to watch matches. In effect the value of the league diminished before prospective sponsors and partners who didn’t get value for money.
It also became apparent that Silva was a double agent acting for both Bamba Sport and KPL in essence whenever he was in a meeting it seems he made his own decisions to favour what he wanted.
According to newly released KPL 2018 fixtures, up to six matches will be shown live every week; Bamba only managed two, mostly double headers or none.
Nonetheless, Rachier says doors are not shut on Bamba and are free apply for the rights.
The new Deal with MediaPro is courtesy of the partnership between La Liga and Kenyan premier league as envisaged in their plans to develop football in Kenya.
The new Deal will see MediaPro producing 51 matches by the end of round 9 a marked improvement that will definitely be great exposure to clubs,their sponsors and players.
ALSO READ: http://www.soka25east.com/kpl-reneging-broadcast-deal/
