Rwanda Premier League giants Rayon Sports want an improved sponsorship package from Skol Brewery that will make the football club the first sports entity in the country to get such money from a corporate company. Club president Sadate Munyakazi told Times Sport on Monday that a club management meeting recently voted to seek a sponsorship package of over Rwf200 million a season from Skol. Rayon Sports in 2017 signed a five year sponsorship deal with the Belgian brewer where the latter would give the Blues Rwf56 million, training pitch and sports gear. However Munyakazi says the contract gives the team a right to re-negotiate improved terms due to “what we do for them [Skol]” and current standards of the team. “That is actually little money compared to what we do for our sponsor,”said Munyakazi who hopes that Skol will comply due to “how important we are for them and the six years we have partnered.” Munyakazi says that the league champion’s budget for this season is Rwf1.3 billion and that there is a possibility of looking for other sponsors if the brewery does not agree to the club’s new terms. Rayon Sports gets an average annual income of Rwf250 million from fans’ contributions and gate receipts, according to Munyakazi. Asked for a comment on Rayon Sports’ new demands, Skol Marketing Director Anita Haguma promised to get back to this reporter but had not done so by press time. Rayon Sports’ demands comes a few weeks after rivals APR FC signed a sponsorship deal with Tanzanian pay television company Azam TV worth Rwf228 million over the next four years.
