SPORTS MARKETING
These two clubs play in the biggest football derby in Tanzania dubbed the Kariokoo Derby or Dar-es Salaam Derby , attracting capacity crowds at the 60,000-seater Benjamin Mkapa stadium in Dar es Salaam . The derby collects approx . USD $ 175,713 as matchday earnings .
“ Investments and involvement from both private and Government has entrenched an ethical and transparent culture within the football game in Tanzania . Match-fixing which plagues even more advanced leagues is almost non-existent .”
According to the African Football Digital Benchmark Report , Simba SC has an online community of over 4 million . This is in all its digital assets including Facebook , Instagram , Twitter , YouTube , LinkedIn and Tik-Tok . Yanga on the other hand , has over 1 million followers of its different platforms and channels . They are the two largest clubs online according to the 2021 Benchmark Report . This shows the potential and the extent to which each of these clubs has been able to attract fans and admirers online .
Azam or SuperSport ?
In the early 2010s , the local media house Azam made the investment by buying the TV rights to the Tanzanian League . For what looked like a red herring , it was the start of a valuable relationship for each of the parties . Azam TV was entering the pay TV space that had been monopolized by the South African firm SuperSport under the MultiChoice parent company .
In the same token , the media landscape across Africa was moving from the analogue to digital switch , coming closer home . Tanzania became the first country in the region ( if not Sub- Saharan Africa ) to make the digital switch in 2012 . This meant the market for pay TV and the digital terrestrial television ( DTT ) was open for selling of set-top boxes , digital and satellite TV solutions .
Of importance beyond the switch was which company was ready for the market in terms of content , market relevance , infrastructure ( in terms of satellite or terrestrial signals ) and pricing .
Initially Multichoice and the IT company Zuku looked primed for these opportunities having had a head start in having invested in DTT and digital and internet solutions . In 2013 , Azam TV was able to enter the market and pick on the two media companies beating them at their own game .
On launching , Azam embarked on acquiring relevant content and exclusive rights to the same to ensure locking in viewers . It paid $ 3.4 million
( TZS 5.5 billion ) for TV rights to air live and recorded games of the TPL . Around the same time , they launched a mobile app that ensured anyone with a smartphone was able to watch live matches or highlights on their device for free .
With this , the football games in Tanzania blew up and suddenly clubs across the country had solid fanbases and followers . These fans have been fanatical and follow their clubs fervently more than they do the European leagues as would be the case in other East African states . Clubs were able to engage corporate firms in sponsorship and partnership deals allowing them to recruit top talent from across the continent .
As noted above , beyond the sponsorship , Azam ensured all the stadiums with teams playing in the TPL had floodlights and lighting installed to allow for night-time games to be played and screened . In most economies in Africa , a typical working day ends at 5 p . m . in the evening and if you give an allowance of 1 or 1 ½ hours , this means the earliest kick-off for the matches would be 6:30 p . m . Remember too in most African countries , power is not always accessible especially at night …
Beyond this , Azam TV was able to get the pricing right for the set-top boxes and available bouquets for the viewing audience . They managed to subsidize the rates for the common consumers and gain market leadership in pay TV and satellite television .
In addition to this , they also added other local content to retain their audiences beyond the football and sports action that they offered live and recorded . Through thorough research and content generation and management , they keep up with the competition at a local and regional level for eyeballs .
Semi-professional and commercialized TPL
These investments and involvement from both private and Government has entrenched an ethical and transparent culture within the football game in Tanzania . Match-fixing which plagues even more advanced leagues is almost non-existent . Players ’ pay is done on time and modestly comfortable for most players even those plying their trade from other countries .
The top teams have also managed to qualify and challenge for continental honors and in feats previously seen as unachievable , it has become a benchmark for the two top teams of Simba SC and Yanga to fight not only for qualification of the group stages of the CAF Champions ’ League but also CAF Confederations Cup .
Room for Improvement
It is not all rosy though . There are still challenges affecting TPL such as the imbalance of the two top teams and the over-reliance on their largesse and success . The clubs infrastructure too needs to be worked on including investing in youth academies , club houses and the translation of club success to the national level too . The huge fanbase of local football has also not been fully exploited and there is opportunities to leverage on this . The same goes for the merchandising , match-day tickets and the digital assets that each of the clubs owns .
The current trend though points to an open leaf of success for the Tanzania Premier League . With its Kenyan counterparts finding themselves in the doldrums of suspension by FIFA for both club and national football team , the national psyche for the football game in Kenya is at an all-time low .
Can we in Kenya learn the lessons that the TPL can teach ? ■
Richard Wanjohi is a marketer with various portfolios including Executive Education , Market Research and Sports Marketing . Reach him on :
rwanjohi @ gmail . com or follow his tweets on
@ rwanjohi
MAL 47 / 22 ISSUE 93