The rise of the EPL in that country has created “Premier League Bars,” passion that has degenerated into fighting and die-hard fans, including women, who will be wearing the colors of the FA Cup finalists today. Read this fascinating article from Nairobi’s Daily Nation newspaper.
Why bar owners just love this game
5/19/2007
It is time for football again and business will be booming this afternoon for bar and restaurant owners.
From the biggest cities and towns to the smallest villages across Kenya, the football craze is today expected to drive fans to entertainment spots where they can watch Manchester United take on their arch-rivals, Chelsea.
The real drama will be unfolding thousands of kilometres away but that will not stop businesses from cashing in on Kenyans’ love for “the beautiful game”.
And to the fans, distance does not matter as they can watch the game live on TV over their favourite beverages. No wonder, English soccer has a magnetic pull that is translating into millions of shillings for entrepreneurs.
Filled to the brim
During today’s clash, bars and restaurants in Nairobi and other towns, and video theatres at various trading centres around the country will be filled to the brim with football fans, many bedecked in their favourite club colours.
By 5 pm, when the FA cup final kicks off, many will already have shouted themselves hoarse, trying to outdo one another in extolling the virtues of their clubs.
And after the final whistle goes, the revelry will go in deep into the night as winners celebrate and losers drown their sorrow.
In Kenya, it does not matter whether one lives in the leafy suburbs or in the slums. From one of Nairobi’s biggest slums, Mathare across to the neighbouring home of Kenya’s who is who, Muthaiga, the excitement will be the same.
Investing in TV sets
Every bar and restaurant worth its name has been devising ways to attract fans and this means investing in TV sets and a link with a satellite broadcaster.
On any given match day, fans always arrive hours before the game kicks off, take up positions and begin to analyse previous matches. What strikes an observer is the immense knowledge that fans have of players in their teams. Arguments sometimes result in fights but more often than not rivals agree to disagree.
Just last year, two Kenyans, one a Manchester United fan and another a Chelsea follower were arrested after they fought over a soccer match. Mr Roy Mungori Kirimi and Mr Kenny Mawira Marango were fined Sh5,000 each or 50 days in jail. “Call Manchester and Chelsea to pay your fines,” the magistrate told them after passing the sentence.
The following day, a local radio station came up with a phone-in “fine-raising” competition”. In less than five minutes, three Man U fans had pledged Sh3,500 to bail out their colleague. The radio presenter promised to top up the difference. By then, no Chelsea fans had made any pledges.
And as fans seek to watch every second of the fast-paced action on the pitch from the comfort of their homes, satellite dishes have sprang up in even the poorest of neighbourhoods. In these settlements, the “beautiful game” provides an escape from grinding poverty.
Entrepreneurs with their eye on the ball have also invested in technology that allows them to broadcast international matches at their pubs and restaurants. In some towns, they charge as little as Sh20 per person per game. Yet each weekend, crowds throng in to watch their teams play.
This fanaticism is threatening to turn courtship on its head. Ms Flora Nyakio, a Chelsea fan, is among a growing number of girls who frequent male-dominated pubs. “I couldn’t stand my guy missing a date when there was a football match so I had to become a fan. It’s all about relationship control as we get to bond more, besides making my guy the envy of other men,” she says.
Making money
She supports Chelsea, which ranks fourth after Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool, among local fans. But those enjoying this new wave of soccer craze the most are the businessmen.
They are making money, and not just from selling merchandise such as football jerseys, caps, scarves, banners and flags, but also by opening what are now known as “Premier League Bars.”
Tacos on Kimathi Street is one such bar.
On any given weekend, when there is a major match like today’s, the pub is turned into an in-house stadium by fans donning jerseys of their favourite English clubs. And business has never been better.
“We sell roughly 100 crates of beer when there is no major football match. But this increases to 150 crates during a match like today’s. English football is good for pub business, even when small teams are playing as opposed to two major Spanish sides,” says Mr Geoffrey Karinga, a supervisor at Tacos. The flip side is that they also have to increase the number of bouncers and waiters on such days.
Tacos has 36 television sets and two large screens to ensure that fans watch the action from every conceivable angle.
Fast food restaurants benefiting from the boom though not as much as bars.
“Food sales do not increase during a big premier league match as fans are spread out in other restaurants, but the business effect is felt afterwards because we retain the same customers when there are no matches. It is now almost a must for a restaurant to have television sets,” said Mr Philip Makau of Kenchic Inn, Moi Avenue, Nairobi.
Multi-Choice
And the spill-over effect of the premiership craze has been a blessing to MultiChoice Kenya, the satellite television providers of DSTV which has exclusive rights in Kenya to air the English Premier League and most other major sporting events.
“The English Premier League has made it easier for us to sell the pay television concept which has seen a 40 per cent growth in the last two years, most of them individual subscribers,” says general manager Mr Richard Tembedza.
Then there is betting. “The betting stakes depend on the level of excitement and they range from Sh100, Sh5,000, Sh20,000 to Sh500,000 in the case of a World Cup match. When Italy won the World Cup, we paid punters Sh2 million,” says Mr Husnain Jaffer of Brighton bookmakers on Tom Mboya Street, Nairobi.
On which team will you bet? Between Chelsea and Man U, the latter is the most successful FA Cup final team, having won the finals nine times between 1948 and 1999. Four of those wins came between 1990 and 1999. Chelsea, on the other hand, has won the cup three times.
Editor’s note: The original article is available here (registration required), hence the reason I copied and pasted the story above for you to enjoy.
What’s interesting to me is that in Kenya, the love of the Premiership is easy to see if you walk through the streets of Mombasa or Nairobi. By the sounds of it, most bars will be showing the matches, so you’d see fans wearing the colors of their favorite teams. In the United States, meanwhile, the FA Cup will be invisible in but a small percentage of bars (even if it was available on regular TV).
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