National Sports

Sponsors ‘flee’ Bingu Stadium

 Bingu National Stadium (BNS) will suffer significant financial loss as TNM and MultiChoice Malawi have decided against renewing the branding deals which generated K30 million annually, it has emerged

MultiChoice and TNM have, for the past years, branded the outside and the interior with their colours and logos as part of their marketing strategies.

The TNM deal was the much worthier of the two as government generated K20 million every year. It expires next month.

In a letter which we have seen, the company has said it is no longer renewing the deal after an analysis of its branding components.

Chipofya: It is informed
by strategic direction

The communication to BNS management reads in part: “following a review of our current branding properties, TNM has decided not to renew its branding contract for the stadium following the expiry of the contract on June 31 2020.”

BNS has not been hosting big matches after the rehabilitation of the Kamuzu Stadium.

In a response to a questionnaire TNM head of brand and communications Louis Chipofya dismissed suggestions that lack of activities had a hand in their decision.

He said: “TNM’s decision not to renew the branding contract is informed by strategic direction. We entered into a contract to brand part of the stadium to meet certain objectives which have since been met; hence, the non-renewal.”

Chipofya, however, hailed BNS as a good marketing platform.

“BNS is Malawi’s biggest soccer venue and plays hosts to major soccer matches and other non-soccer events. As such, it offers a great platform for brand exposure which TNM has enjoyed during its contract period,” he said.

MultiChoice contract also expired last month and the digital satelitte television provider has communicated to the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture that it is not renewing it, according to sources.

The company was paying government K10 million annually. However, their officials were not available for comment.

In an interview, the ministry’s spokesperson Symon Mbvundula referred The Nation to the Principal Secretary Chancy Simwaka who said he was not aware that the two companies were not renewing the contracts.

Last month, The Nation reported that FAM shuns BNS for Flames matches sanctioned by CAF and Fifa because the stadium’s permanent perimeter adverts, like those of TNM and MultiChoice, infringe on the football governing bodies’ contracts with their sponsors.

The 45 000-seater stadium has hosted four Flames matches against Morocco, Comoros Island, Madagascar and Lesotho since it was opened four years ago while Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre, in contrast, has hosted 11 games during the same period

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