- Says Rollers is a brand that shares common values with banks
- Sponsorship to cover three years at P1.5m per year
- Rollers’ Jagdish Shah says they are “a dominant force in local and African football”
GAZETTE REPORTER
Stanbic Bank Botswana has maintained their continued support for development and success of top football outfit Township Rollers through a partnership of P4.5 million that will cover three consecutive seasons (2022-2025), Gazette Sports has established.
Announcing the renewal in Gaborone this week, the bank’s CEO, Chose Modise, said the sponsorship is aligned to the Stanbic Bank Botswana’s mandate of moving communities forward by partnering with sports entities dedicated to the development of various sports disciplines in Botswana.
The partnership first started in 2016 at P3.6 million and sustains the P4.5-million-pula sponsorship that extended in January 2020 which came to an end this month.
The Rollers brand
Modise said the partnership comes with lots of opportunities for the bank to make a positive impact on members and fans of Township Rollers and their entire ecosystem. “Township Rollers is undoubtedly one of the best football clubs in the country,” he asserted.
“But beyond that, it’s a brand that shares common values with that of a bank. We strongly believe that partnerships and collaborations are critical to drive meaningful and sustainable impact within our communities.
“Stanbic Bank is pleased that it has an opportunity to leverage the sport of football as we grant Rollers P4.5 million over the term of partnership, making it P1.5 million per annum.
“Our aim is also to see this team progress even further in local and African football, develop young talent that can be the future of Botswana football.”
Modise said football is amongst the more popular sporting codes in the world with a great deal of influence as it brings people together.
Sports tourism
“In the growth of football in Botswana, we see opportunity further down the value chain too – the commercial aspect, talent development, sports tourism and even the potential to engage football collectives for such matters as financial literacy and money management,” he emphasised.
For his part, the president of Township Rollers, Jagdish Shah, said the partnership has contributed immensely to the success of the club on and off the field as the team is now regarded as one of the big brands in Africa.
“Significant success followed after that and we went on to cement our status as a dominant force in local and African football,” Shah noted. “We even went to the group stages of the CAF Champions League during that period.
“I also want to report that between 2016 and today, we have doubled our social media following and we have significantly increased our supporters’ branches as well.
Serial winners
“Today, we are a lot more professionally and commercially run, and adequately equipped to take this partnership to another level.”
Following this historic partnership, ‘Mapalastina’, as Rollers are popularly known, went on to win three league titles in a row, the 2017, 2018 and 2019 seasons.
The 2017-18 season also saw Township Rollers winning the league and the Mascom Top 8 double.