When the second round fixture for the 2026 NBL season came out, a couple of things caught the attention of many people. Among these was the fact some games were set to be played at the Hoima City Stadium from Friday 22nd to Sunday 25th May.

This development had a lot of mixed reactions because many people would want to go to the newly constructed Arena but then, the financial burden would be massive. Some people thought that perhaps the government would intervene and help the clubs financially but that seems not to be the case.

At the moment, reports (from the Sports Nation) indicate that the games scheduled for Hoima have been put off for now. According to the article by the Sports Nation, it is said that the Clubs were strongly against games being played in Hoima due to financial constraints.However, when you think about it, playing in Hoima has some good to it.

Why is hosting games at Hoima a good thing?

For long, there has been a cry of lack of facilities. With Hoima having been constructed, it would make a lot of sense to have some basketball action happening there so that the place can have some activity. Keeping a facility of that magnitude redundant does not make sense at all.

Secondly, this facility will be hosting the U18 Zone V Qualifiers in June and a number of International events in the future. Hosting NBL games there would mean that fans would get to familiarize themselves with the environment.

Thirdly, FUBA is looking to push the sport of basketball in multiple areas. Having games in Hoima would perhaps compel some fans within the region to come and watch. That could be an inspiration to schools, individuals and maybe organisations to promote the game in that region.

The other important thing is that businesses around the region, especially food and hospitality would get to make profits.

All the above are very good reasons but none directly benefits the clubs and perhaps that is why they pushed back a lot.

Financial implications of having a game in Hoima

As per the fixture, games were supposed to be starting on Friday and ending on Sunday with 18 games being played. These games would involve all the 24 NBL teams and 12 of the 24 teams would play twice.

What does this mean?

Teams like Pearl Queens, KCCA Leopards, KCCA Panthers, and JT Jaguars who were set to play on Friday night would have had to travel earlier that day or even a day before. If you travel a day before, the team would spend on transportation, accommodation for that night, supper, breakfast the following day, lunch and other necessary things.

Those expenses alone are more than what teams would usually use on five or more game days combined. If a team was to spend another day and night there, that means the expenses have already doubled. A third night, the expenses triple.

For teams like KCCA Leopards, KCCA Panthers and Pearl Queens who were meant to have games on Friday and Sunday. They would have to stay in Hoima for at least 3 days and 2 nights. The money spent in those 3 days and nights could potentially be more than what the team spent on all the 11 games in the entire first round on allowances.

For Context

Usually, a team has 12 players and about 5-8 delegates. The total number could be about 20 although that number is usually less. If a team decides to use public means of transportation, they would pay 20,000 per person and 400,000 in total. That is minus the expenses the players used to get to the setting off point.

For accommodation, decent places go for about 50,000. So if you get 20 people and multiply by 50,000, you are looking at 1 million for one night. However, there is room sharing and discounts, so let’s say the minimum is about 500,000. If you spend there 3 nights that is 1.5 million on the low end.

When it comes to food, a plate could go as low as 5,000. If you have 2 meals the total would be 200,000.  So in one night, you are looking at a minimum of 700,000 without transport. If you are to spend their 3 days and 3 nights, the minimum total would be about 2.1 million. If you add transport, the expenses shoot up to 3 million. When you add the player allowances, you are looking at 4 million minimum.

On a usual game day at Lugogo, YMCA or any other ground. Teams usually give players about 20,000-30,000 as allowance. This puts the total to about 360,000 at most and if you add the coaching stuff, it shoots to around 500,000. This amount is 8 times less than what a team would need to play a weekend in Hoima.

Would the games in Hoima make profit?

Taking games to Hoima is one thing but getting fans there is another. For many basketball faithful in the central region, it would be a financial burden to go to Hoima to watch basketball. So there is a majority of usual fans who wiould not travel.

That means that’s FUBA and NBLC would have to hope that fans in Hoima would come around and watch. However, that would need a lot of marketing and advertising and so far, nothing significant has been done in that space.

To date, we still have very low turn up to the games and one wonders, won’t that be the case in Hoima? If that is what is expected to happen, what then is the point of taking games there.

Also, one of the games that was on the card is the one between the Namuwongo Blazers and the City Oilers. This fixture has made the most money for FUBA and NBLC in the past and putting it in Hoima means it may not make as much.

In Kampala, fans usually come, fill the Arena and there is barely any space left. All that is revenue for the league but is there a guarantee that that will be the case in Hoima?

Finally, the NBLC has to cater for all the officials. Usually, all they get is the payment for the games they have worked on and 20,000 as transport refund. In this case, all officials would be given their allowance but on top of that, accommodation for 3 nights, meals for 3 days and other necessities. This would create a very big financial burden to the league.

The idea of hosting games in Hoima is good but for an entire weekend, it is ill advised. Recently, teams failed to show up in Lugazi (Metha Phenoms court) citing financial challenges and walkovers were given. Would walkovers be a good sight in the NBL?

For a League that has little to no return on investment, it is very difficult to make teams which are already struggling financially, bear another huge financial burden of hosting games very far away.

The NBL second round starts on 24th April with the JT Lady jaguars taking on the UCU Lady Canons and the JT Jaguars against Sommet.