President of the Kingston and St Andrew Football Association (KSAFA) Mark Bennett says his organisation is now in negotiations with a number of sponsors as they look to increase sponsorship for the confederation’s championship and major league competition next season.

Bennett told the Jamaica Observer that both competitions are scheduled to kick off at the end of January and his association has been working around the clock to ensure that the sponsorship plank, plus other administrative elements are in place ahead of the start.

“We are looking to start at the end of January and, of course, Campari would have been the sponsor last season and we are having discussions to continue that partnership,” said Bennett.

“We also engaged another sponsor and they have asked us for our proposal and we have sent it off to them, and so we are just waiting for follow-up meetings with them,” he added.

The KSAFA Championship and the Major League competition made their return to the local football calendar this season after a two-and-half-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, with COVID figures rapidly trending down in Jamaica and with the suspension of restrictive protocols, Bennett said that they are looking to make the competitions a lot bigger next year.

“Certainly, we want the sponsorship to be much bigger in terms of increase in prize monies…remember the cost of running the league’s next season will be doubled because last season we had a smaller competition with just one round of games.

“At the very least, we want to have two rounds of games and added prize money for the clubs and also for the players. You know that once the players hear about added incentives, then that is extra motivation for them and this will in turn make the competitions a lot more competitive and exciting,” Bennett said.

The newly installed KSAFA president has called on corporate Jamaica to get on board and support both competitions because they form a very important part of the development of football in Jamaica.

“I would love for more sponsors to come on board for the next season because this will make the competitions a lot more exciting and there will also be more benefits for the players,” Bennett said.

“This will also help to assist the development of Jamaica’s football programmes because a lot of our national players have come through the KSAFA leagues,” he added.

Real Mona received $1 million for winning the KSAFA Championship last season, while Marverley/Hugenden took home $800,000 for copping the Major League.