Professional Football Jamaica Limited (PFJL), the company responsible for the running of Jamaica’s Premier League (JPL), has been able to do in a few months what so many others have failed to do for decades — attract significant sponsorship to run a professional league in Jamaica.

Even though the Government is yet to give the green light for the resumption of football, the PFJL — led by businessman Chris Williams — has been able to attract sponsorship of almost $200 million so far.

“We have about 15 sponsors and we are close to that figure [$200m], so we did very well and the reason is Jamaica loves football. It is the number one sport and it is also representative of our attitude and our culture and so people want to see local football. No matter how the English Premier League and La Liga are beamed in, people still have their local teams,” Williams said on television recently.

Williams reasoned that Jamaicans have an undying love for the sport of football, which means that a captive audience is always available to consume the product.

“As I keep saying, everybody follows at least four teams. They have their local team, they have the Reggae Boyz, they have another national team and they have an English Premier League team. We are at the top of the ladder. People love the Jamaica Premier League and sponsors recognise that,” Williams said.

What the PFJL has brought to the table is a way to package and deliver the football product to that captive audience, and that has been irresistible to the sponsors they have been able to land.

“My team and I have done a job of structuring the league in a manner that it can be consumed easily, because that is the number one issue — distribution. Any product that you have, the product could be good like gold, if it cannot get to the consumer, then it’s going to come to zero,” Williams noted.

He made it clear that local football will be more visible via different video formats, so that viewing of content can be done anywhere and at any time and people are not limited to just being at the venue where the games are being played.

“What we have been able to do, with the support of SportsMax and a to-be-named free-to-air broadcast partner, is we have been able to put the league in front of many people and sponsors recognise that. The consumers make the decision easier, it’s right in front of them. You don’t have to go on a bus to go and take two hours out of your day to get to a game and you miss it.

“You can pick it up live, our you can pick it up on YouTube later, or you can pick it up on a channel or an app and so on. You have to make products easily accessible, distribution, and that’s what we added,” said Williams.

So even though details are yet to be released, it is clear that the Jamaica Premier League will be delivered in a manner similar to what are now international norms for the ever-increasing appetite of the Jamaican consumer.

— Dwayne Richards