Entertainment spots in Kenya cash in on Olympic Games
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E-mail Xinhua, August 4, 2012
Business persons running entertainment facilities in Kenya are cashing in on Olympic Games, which are helping to boost their businesses.
The games, that are being beamed live on television, have given traders in the East African nation a massive opportunity to increase revenues and reach more customers.
The traders, many who have invested in pay TV installations, are advertising much-loved games like football, basketball, gymnastics and athletics, where Kenyans are expected to star, to attract customers to their facilities.
While the traders are not charging customers to watch the games as it happens with other sporting events, for instance, the English Premier League, the Olympics have become a value addition service to their business.
"Watch live on big screen Olympic Games," read a sign at a pub in Komarock estate on the east of the Nairobi on Thursday evening. The notice went ahead to advertise other games that included swimming, football and handball.
Inside the facility, there were several revellers glued to different TV screens, which were showing various sports. On one screen there was a handball match, on the other football and the last one basketball.
The place was packed to capacity with revellers enjoying the games as they took drinks.
"Screening Olympic Games is the only way you can attract customers to your facilities currently. People want to watch the games as they take drinks," John Mutuku, an attendant at the facility, noted.
Mutuku said the games are central to their businesses in terms of attracting customers and raising revenue.
"You cannot get customers if you fail to screen Olympics. You will lose them to your competitors who are screening the games. Sports and drinking, experience has shown, go hand in hand. Gone are the days when people used to talk among themselves as they drunk," he explained.
The Olympic Games, according to Mutuku, have come at an opportune time.
"Before the games started, we did not have something specific to screen since Euro games had ended and English Premier League (EPL), which is most-loved by many people in Kenya, is on recess. Most of the time we found ourselves screening African movies, but the Olympic Games have come as a blessing for us," he said.
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