The Botswana Premier League is the Commercial Wing of Botswana Football Association. The league has existed since 1966. The championship initially called MLO Cup. The first edition 1966, with participants including Tlokweng Pirates, Notwane, Black Peril, Queens Park Rangers and a team from Ngwaketse district.
The league has always been dominated by the teams that are based south of Dibete or at the southern part of the country until the 2006/2007 season when Ecco City made history by becoming the first team from the north to lift the lucrative competition. The league is sponsored by a mobile phone operator Be Mobile to the tune of 30 million pula. After the ABSA premiership in South Africa, the Be Mobile league is the second highest sponsored league in the COSAFA region.The league has continued to grow in leaps and bounds as shown by the increasing number of foreign players in the BPL. Some top players from mainly Zimbabwe like Anold Chaka, Master Masitara, Elvis Meleka, Mandla Sibanda, Sageby Sandaka and Tendai Ndoro have ditched the Zimbabwean PSL for the BPL in recent years. Recently Namibian stars like Jerome Luis and Benson Shilongo arrived in Botswana in search of the Pula. After terminating their television deal with a South African company RP Productions, the league is now negotiating a long term deal with Supersport International. In early 2013, the pay TV shown five BPL games on a testing basis.
The 2014–15 Botswana Premier League will be the 50th season of the Botswana Premier League since its establishment in 1966. A total of 16 teams will contest the league, with Township Rollers as the defending champions.
Mochudi Centre Chiefs players celebrating after receiving the trophy of the beMobile Botswana premier league during the football match between Police XI and Mochudi Centre Chiefs at the Molepolole Sports Complex, Botswana on May 16, 2015 ©Monirul Bhuiyan/BackpagePix
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