Cricket South Africa finally finds Momentum

CRICKET SOUTH AFRICA (CSA) has secured a title sponsor for its One-Day events in the form of financial services company Momentum.

The six-year deal gives Momentum official rights to One-Day International (ODI) matches as well as all One-Day domestic cricket events in South Africa.

The news will come as a welcome relief for CSA which lost corporate backing over the last year and has been unable to attract new sponsors in the wake of a corruption scandal shrouding the sport’s national governing body – the result of CSA being awarded R4.7 million in unauthorised bonuses payments for hosting the 2009 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The scandal saw two of CSA's long-time sponsors, Standard Bank and mobile communications company MTN, opt out of their partnerships with South African cricket during the off-season in 2011.

The Momentum sponsorship secures much-needed investment for the shorter form of cricket in South Africa and is a deal which the CSA will hope to be a catalyst for further new sponsors to back the organisation going forward.

Commenting on the partnership, Nicolaas Kruger, CEO of Momentum's holding company MMI, said negotiations had been ongoing for nearly a year and that bad publicity surrounding CSA had hampered the signing of the deal.

“With regard to the necessity to improve future governance issues, Momentum is satisfied with both the contractual assurances, as well as governance improvements that have been implemented by CSA,” he said.

“We see this investment as a solid business proposition for the Group and a way to align and extend our brand awareness to a broader audience.”

 

By Luke Harman

Follow Luke on Twitter: @lukeharmanSBG