By Spy Sports Desk 
Uganda Athletics has turned to one of the country’s most seasoned media strategists and sports-business minds, Joseph “Joe” Kigozi, and his JK Media & Sports Agency, in a major three-year commercial partnership aimed at transforming the federation’s sponsorship portfolio, brand visibility and revenue-generation capacity.
The agreement, signed on Tuesday, August 11, 2026, at the Uganda Athletics offices in Kampala, hands JK Media Agency the commercial activation and partnership-acquisition mandate as Uganda Athletics seeks to close a significant funding gap threatening the sustainability and expansion of its programmes and competitions.
Uganda Athletics President Dominic Otucet said the federation’s annual financial requirements run into more than Shs10 billion, against approximately Shs3 billion in government support, making private-sector mobilisation indispensable.
“It is an opportunity to announce this partnership because our budget requires more than 10 billion, while the government provides only three. After long negotiations of over two years, we have handed over to JK Media Agency the responsibility to find partners so that we can raise more funds,” Otucet said.
The appointment places Kigozi at the intersection of sports marketing, media rights, corporate sponsorship, talent management and commercial strategy—areas in which the veteran media executive has built an unusually broad track record.
Kigozi is not a newcomer to the business of building media products and converting audiences into commercially viable platforms.
His career spans more than 15 years in East African broadcasting and media management, during which he has been involved in launching, restructuring and scaling some of Uganda’s most recognisable media brands. He was instrumental in the development of BBS Terefayina, helping establish and stabilise the Buganda Kingdom-owned television station at a formative stage.
His next major chapter was at Next Media Services, where he rose to become Deputy Group CEO and Chief Strategy Officer.
At Next Media, Kigozi was closely associated with the strategic thinking, execution and institutional growth behind several products within the group. Working closely with Kin Kariisa, Next Media’s founder and Group CEO, Kigozi became one of Kariisa’s most trusted lieutenants, the executive often relied upon to translate strategic concepts into executable media products and commercial operations.
His influence extended beyond boardroom strategy into product development, audience growth, brand positioning and operational implementation, contributing to the evolution of the wider Next Media ecosystem.
Kigozi also served as General Manager of NBS Sport, where he spearheaded the establishment and development of what became Uganda’s dedicated 24-hour sports television channel.
His broadcasting portfolio was complemented by leadership responsibilities within the industry, including his tenure as Vice Chairman of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB).
The Sportsman Behind the Media Executive
But Kigozi’s story is not confined to television studios and corporate strategy meetings. His deeper play in sports has been through JK Sports Academy, an initiative established to identify, nurture and develop young sporting talent while creating pathways between grassroots participation and professional sport.
The academy forms part of Kigozi’s wider philosophy that Uganda’s sports industry cannot rely exclusively on government grants and event-day gate collections.
His involvement in football programming also includes the creation of “442,” an award-winning football show that helped demonstrate his ability to package sport as compelling entertainment while building a commercially attractive audience proposition.
Through JK Sports Academy and related initiatives, Kigozi has increasingly moved into talent identification, athlete development, sports administration and sports-property management.
This gives JK Media Agency an important advantage in its new Uganda Athletics assignment: the agency understands both sides of the sporting value chain, the athlete and the audience, as well as the sponsor and the rights-holder.
Kigozi says JK’s mandate will go beyond simply putting logos on athletics events. The agency’s model is built around commercial activation, sponsorship packaging, audience monetisation, media amplification, experiential marketing and brand integration.
That means potential partners can be offered more than conventional advertising inventory. They can be integrated into competitions, digital platforms, community programmes, athlete stories, youth development initiatives and fan-engagement campaigns.
JK also operates across a broader sports ecosystem encompassing digital media, youth academies, sports applications, apparel and event properties.
The agency has further positioned itself for international sports business, including being listed as a certified supplier on the Africa Cup of Nations Local Organising Committee (AFCON LOC) Supplier Portal.
Its sports-media portfolio also includes handling prominent Free-to-Air international media rights in Uganda, including properties associated with major European football competitions such as Serie A, Bundesliga and LaLiga.
The agency has additionally been involved in high-profile community and corporate sporting initiatives, including the Autism Awareness Run and BNI League.
The challenge before Kigozi and his team is therefore not merely to find sponsors, but to help reposition Uganda Athletics as a bankable sports property.
That means developing a structured sponsorship architecture, identifying the federation’s most valuable commercial assets, creating rights packages and matching them with companies seeking meaningful brand association, consumer engagement and measurable return on investment.
It is a shift from traditional sponsorship solicitation to a more sophisticated rights-holder commercialisation model.
Kigozi believes Uganda Athletics possesses significant untapped value.
“I am happy that Uganda Athletics has entrusted us with a three-year responsibility to find partners. We hope this will be easier for us because UA has a lot to offer to corporate companies,” Kigozi said.
He added: “After three years of this contract, hopefully, we will see a big change in Uganda Athletics’ business model.”
A New Commercial Playbook for Athletics
The partnership has received backing from Milton Chebet, Assistant Secretary General in charge of Technical at the Uganda National Council of Sports, who described the engagement as a step towards professionalising the sports economy.
“It is good that Uganda Athletics is bringing in a business manager. As we aim to make sports part of the economy, we need experts like JK Media Agency. This partnership can open doors for companies that have been struggling to find ways of partnering with our sports industry,” Chebet said.
Uganda has produced world-class athletes and continues to punch above its weight on the continental and global stage. Yet the commercial infrastructure around athletics has not always matched the federation’s sporting pedigree.
JK’s assignment could therefore mark a transition from a largely funding-dependent model to a diversified sports-revenue ecosystem, where sponsorship, media rights, merchandising, events, digital engagement and athlete-led commercial properties work together.
Kigozi’s team is now expected to present its strategic commercialisation plan, setting the roadmap for the three-year engagement.
For a man who has spent his career building media platforms, developing audiences and turning ideas into scalable products, Uganda Athletics may now become his most ambitious sports-business project yet.
The race, this time, is not only on the track. It is for the corporate shilling. Watch the athletics space….
