Hollywoodbets is proud to be associated with the popular Phaka rugby show, which is presented in both English and Xhosa on SuperSport.
Practically Hollywoodbets’ sponsorship relationship with Phaka will allow the us to assist development rugby teams who desperately need the support and equipment to be able to able to grow their talented players.
We’ve grown our reputation for being actively involved in developing South African sport from a grassroots level. Our contributions to various soccer teams and community tournaments based near our operations around the country are well publicised. KwaZulu-Natal’s provincial cricket team, The Hollywoodbets Dolphins, have also been proud members of the purple family for the past few years.
Hollywoodbets first started making inroads into rugby in 2018 when we signed on as the title sponsor of the oldest knockout rugby tournament in the world – the Murray Cup based in KZN. This successful sponsorship spurred them on to seek further opportunities to help grow the sport of rugby.
Our first-ever Phaka handover featured Swallows Rugby Club from Mdantsane in the Eastern Cape.
Former Phaka presenter Kaunda Ntunja spoke in 2019 about how this partnership will affect the grassroots game in South Africa. “Phaka and Hollywoodbets share a similar vision. We both want to see people from underprivileged backgrounds thrive once given an opportunity to do so. The thing that really excites me about the partnership is that many rugby clubs and players from underprivileged backgrounds will benefit from this partnership. Hollywoodbets will provide the means to assist, while Phaka will earmark the areas and the people that desperately need the leg up to thrive in the sport that they love. It is important for companies to get involved with rugby at grassroots level because the Springboks of tomorrow come from there. All they need is an opportunity to showcase their talents. Without assistance these hidden gems will be lost to us forever!” said Ntunja.
Media and Communications Executive at Hollywoodbets Devin Heffer spoke about his excitement when the partnership was announced. “We are thrilled to be partnering with Phaka in helping to discover and empower talented players. We believe that it’s vital to assist those who have great potential but struggle to reach it because of obstacles like lack of equipment or funding. As Hollywoodbets we want to do our part to ensure that rugby teams at all levels become more representative of all South Africans,” he said.
The first Hollywoodbets-sponsored Phaka show aired on the 12th of February 2019
