Sting boosts Uganda Boxing Champions League with Shs285m
Power Punch. (L-R) Boxing patron Mukula, Muhangi and Sting’s Namutebi and Kamoga. PHOTO | ISAAC SSEJJOMBWE
Captain Mike Mukula called it “a monumental occasion in the history of Ugandan boxing,” as Sting Energy Drink unveiled a Shs285m sponsorship to the Uganda Boxing Champions League at the Copper Chimney Restaurant, Lugogo yesterday.
“Never in the history of this country have we had corporate support from the private sector which is this big coming to boxing; this is indeed monumental,” said Mukula, the Uganda Boxing Federation (UBF) patron. “I would like to say that this is the direction the private sector should take.”
No naming rights
The platinum sponsorship deal won’t include naming rights but will cover sponsorship fees, in the region of Shs100m, product, venue branding and fight night activations. The Champions League was a novel project which started December 4, 2021 amid resistance from mostly elite boxers who were required to sign four-year contracts. Some boycotted but the league continued with events twice every month, as planned, at the MTN Arena-Lugogo, and occasionally at Club Obligato in Wandegeya.
And six of the participants will represent Uganda at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, UK.
Such consistency and aggressive marketing is partly what attracted Pepsico, the makers of Sting, into striking the historic deal.
“We are very excited to work with UBF and Top Boy Promotions,” said Grace Namutebi, the Sting brand manager, adding that the main objective of this partnership is to promote Ugandan boxing and urged other sponsors to come on board.
This could be Sting’s first partnership with boxing in Uganda but the brand has been associated with the sport internationally, for example the deal with multiple world champion Manny Pacquiao which birthed the Sting Powerpacq Energy Drink in 2012.
