Kenya’s top-flight football league is attracting all kinds of publicity related to gambling operator sponsorship, only some of which can be considered positive.

Last week, Nigerian betting operator BetKing announced that it had struck a five-year title sponsorship deal with the Football Kenya Federation (FKF). The deal, which is reportedly worth Ksh1.2b (US$11.1m), will give BetKing prime exposure in both the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) and the Kenyan Women’s Premier League.

Under the deal, BetKing will pay Ksh220m for the first year of the deal, which takes effect when the new KPL — now the BPL — season kicks off in September. That sum will increase by 5% in year two, with 10% increases over the final three years of the contract.

Individual KPL clubs will reportedly each receive Ksh8m per year through 2025, while the women will have to make do with a total of Ksh10m per year for the whole league. BetKing also inked a separate deal to become the official Division One League title sponsors — the first time the lower tier have had a title sponsor — for a mere Ksh100m.