The Kenyan premier league was formed in 1963 under the Kenya Football Federation but is now controlled by Football Kenya Federation.Is also known as the sportpesa premier league for sponsorship reasons. Is a professional league for men’s association football clubs in Kenya, standing at the top of the Kenyan football league system.
It is contested by 18 clubs and operates on a promotion and relegation system with the Kenyan national super league. Gor Mahia are the league’s current champions and most successful club in the league with a record of 18 titles to their name. The league also has domestic cups, super cup and top 8 cup.The champions in the league do participate in international cups like CAF champions league and CAF confederation cup.
The league was stable until late 1990s.Since then its performance has been considered below the par with most of the league’s clubs having inadequate finances to support themselves. Since supersport became an official partner, the league has taken a more serious role with clubs becoming professional and majority of the clubs managing to get kit sponsorships. This has improved the level of competition compared to the past years.
On 21 August 2012 to 6 August 2015 East African Breweries through their Tusker brand gained the naming rights to the league. The Kenya premier league signed a contract worth Ksh.170millions deal with East African breweries limited to rename the league to Tusker premier league. This was the most lucrative deal in Kenyan football history at the time.
At the moment ,the league does not have a title sponsorship but has broadcasting deal with supersport. Umbro is the official referee kit supplier. On 18 October 2012 the league signed a. Ksh.10million deal with Puma,which made them the official ball supplier for the league and its clubs with immediate effect.
On 6 August 2015 East African betting company sportpesa gained the naming rights to the league, signing a four and a half years contract with Kenya premier league worth Ksh.450million as part of sponsorship. A new trophy was unveiled by sportpesa and Kenya premier league on 30 October 2015 with Gor Mahia to be its first recipient and retain the previous trophy for good. The trophy was manufactured in Italy and is made of brass,weighs 12kg.
In 2018 the league switched from a February to November calendar to an August to May competition to bring it in line with other countries. This was to ensure the 2019-2020 season align with those of European countries. The league’s most popular teams are rivals Gor Mahia current champions and AFC Leopards who won their 12th title in 1998.They are the most decorated derby in the Kenya premier league history, usually dubbed as mashemeji Derby by their fans.
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