Township Rollers, one of Botswana’s most decorated and widely supported football clubs, is showing signs of revival after several difficult seasons, securing P8 million in sponsorship commitments within a week.
The Gaborone giants have endured a turbulent period off the field, marked by changes in sponsorship, financial difficulties and a major turnover in the playing squad. But the arrival of Bet267 and Hope Tee Energy as commercial partners has offered the club a much-needed financial and psychological lift.
Bet267 has committed P2 million to Rollers over two years, while Hope Tee Energy will provide P6 million over three seasons, at P2 million per season. Bet267’s branding will appear on the back of the club’s shirt, while Hope Tee Energy will occupy the prominent front-of-shirt position.
The developments come at a crucial time for Rollers, who have been rebuilding after a difficult period that has affected both their competitiveness and stability.
The club lost its previous sponsorship arrangement with Sunbet this year, with the betting company instead renewing its partnership with Gaborone United. Rollers have also seen a significant exodus of players during the current transfer window.
Among those who have departed are Simisani Mathumo, Mosha Gaolaolwe, Omphile Vissage, Karamelo Kgosipula and Kabelo Dambe, alongside several other members of last season’s squad.
There have been persistent claims within football circles that financial difficulties, including alleged delays in salary payments, contributed to the departures. Those claims have not been independently verified by this publication.
Against that backdrop, the two new sponsorship agreements represent an important intervention for a club attempting to restore its financial footing and rebuild its footballing identity.
Speaking at the Bet267 partnership announcement, Rollers Chairman Fish Pabalinga described the agreement as more than a sponsorship.
“Today is not simply about announcing a sponsorship,” he said. “Today is about announcing a partnership.”
Pabalinga said the two-year agreement would give Rollers an opportunity to strengthen the club, improve the environment in which players operate and raise its professional standards.
“For us at Township Rollers, this partnership represents much more than financial support,” he said. “It represents confidence in our vision.”
He also acknowledged the commercial value of the Rollers brand, particularly its large and passionate support base.
“Township Rollers supporters are not just spectators,” Pabalinga said. “They are part of the identity of this club. They are our energy. They are our voice.”
The chairman said the club wanted Bet267 to grow alongside Rollers while using the partnership to create greater engagement and supporter experiences.
The announcement of the Hope Tee Energy deal on Thursday provided an even bigger boost, with the energy company becoming the club’s new front-of-shirt sponsor for the next three seasons.
Pabalinga said the partnership was particularly significant because Hope Tee Energy founder and managing director Hope Kontle is a lifelong Rollers supporter.
“The founder and managing director of Hope Tee Energy is an avid Township Rollers supporter who grew up supporting the team, who grew up playing football in the streets of Gaborone, ke mo Rollers wa popota, who grew up supporting the team and fully understands its history and its DNA,” Pabalinga said.
According to the chairman, negotiations with Kontle were unusually straightforward.
“So when I approached Hope Tee Energy to become our front-of-shirt sponsor, the discussion was the smoothest ever and lasted no longer than five minutes,” he said.
Pabalinga believes the timing of the agreement could prove significant in the club’s rebuilding process.
“Township Rollers is finding its feet again,” he said. “We are taking a hard and honest look at where we are, where we want to go, and what we must do to get there.”
He repeatedly linked the company’s identity to the club’s current circumstances, describing the partnership as a source of “new hope” and “new energy.”
“There is a new sense of hope around this football club,” he said, adding that Rollers wanted to rebuild stronger, restore its standards and create an environment in which players could perform at their best.
But Pabalinga acknowledged that sponsorship alone would not solve the club’s challenges.
“Hope on its own is not enough,” he said. “Hope needs action.”
He said the club needed “energy” not only on the football pitch, but also in its administration, commercial activities, relationship with supporters and player development.
“This partnership is therefore not simply about putting a logo on the front of our shirts,” Pabalinga said. “It is about putting new energy into a club that is determined to rise again.”
The chairman’s comments point to a broader ambition to transform Rollers into a more sustainable institution rather than simply using the sponsorship money to address immediate problems.
He said the club wanted to become stronger, professionally run, commercially sustainable and competitive, while developing talent and creating opportunities for young people.
“Our ambition is not only to win matches,” Pabalinga said. “Our ambition is to build a stronger, more professional and more sustainable football institution — one that can compete at the highest levels while creating opportunities for the young people of Botswana.”
For a club with Rollers’ history, the challenge now will be to turn the renewed commercial confidence into tangible progress on the pitch.
The P8 million in new sponsorship commitments gives the club a significant platform, but expectations will inevitably rise alongside the financial backing.
Rollers’ supporters, known as the Popa Popa family, will expect the new era to deliver stability, competitiveness and, ultimately, trophies.
Pabalinga has urged them to remain behind the club and its new partners.
“To our supporters — the Popa Popa family — this partnership is also yours,” he said. “We ask you to continue standing behind the team, continue supporting our partners and continue showing Botswana what it means to be part of a truly great football family.”
For now, after seasons of uncertainty, Rollers have something they have been badly short of: momentum.
Whether the latest sponsorship deals mark the beginning of a sustained turnaround will depend on what happens next — in the boardroom, in the dressing room and, most importantly, on the pitch.
As Pabalinga put it: “The future does not simply happen. The future is built.”
For Township Rollers, that rebuilding process has now begun with P8 million worth of new backing.
