BPL deal: Grants to increase, prize money unchanged
Boitumelo Khutsafalo | Friday September 15, 2017 13:02
Although both the BPL and the BTC declined to reveal the breakdown of the sponsorship, sources close to the development have said the prize money will remain the same.
“The champions will still get P1 million despite the increase in the total sponsorship. However, a significant amount will go into the teams as grants.
The idea is to try and level the playing field because with an increase in the amount of grants, clubs will be able to run their day-to-day errands and be able to prepare adequately for the competition,” the source told Mmegi Sport. Last season, teams were to receive P200,000 in grants for the entire campaign. The source also revealed that with an increase in grants, all the teams will be able to compete fairly which is good for the league. In the past, the league nearly faced a crisis as several clubs especially those without sponsors, were forced to travel at the last minute due to financial constraints.
Last week, BPL and BTC announced a P39 million three-year deal, taking their partnership to a total of 12 years. The two parties have been in a relationship for the past nine years with BTC first injecting P15 million in the first three years. They renewed the deal for another three years with an increase of P9 million from the previous deal. In the last deal, BTC pumped in P30 million. However, in all the deals, the prize money has remained the same.
However, Premier League clubs in the past complained about the grants, which according to them were relatively low and at times arrived late when clubs were already in financial crisis.
In the current deal, BPL will receive P13 million each season with the league scheduled to start on September 23 after several adjustments to the initial date.
During the announcement of the deal, BPL board chairperson, Rapula Okaile said all the details and breakdown of the deal will be revealed at the signing ceremony scheduled for September 23 in Francistown.
The ceremony will be held during the match between TAFIC and defending champions, Township Rollers to officially kick-start the season. Okaile, however expressed his excitement at the fact that clubs will be able to receive a significant amount in grants in the new deal.