Visit Rwanda is the official tourism brand of the Rwanda Development Board, it has announced a multi-year partnership with both the Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Rams.

It marks the first time any NBA or NFL team has struck a sponsorship deal with an African tourism brand.

Both the Clippers and Rams, with their gameday operations located across the street from each other in Inglewood, will promote the branding of Visit Rwanda in various ways. For the Clippers, it will become their third different jersey patch sponsor since the NBA started allowing jersey ads in 2017.

Jean-Guy Afrika, CEO of the Rwanda Development Board, spoke to the long-term partnerships with both franchises and why Los Angeles was the optimal choice.

“Sport connects people, uniting communities through shared values of excellence and
aspiration,” Afrika said. “Through sponsorships with the LA Clippers and LA Rams, Rwanda and Los Angeles unite to promote the spirit of the game. This engagement enables us to export Rwanda’s unrivaled natural beauty and extraordinary biodiversity to the people of Los Angeles as well as NBA and NFL fans everywhere.

Visit Rwanda is an initiative designed to showcase the country’s culture, landscapes, and wildlife experiences while attracting more tourists.

This isn’t the first athletic partnership for them, however. They have struck deals with soccer clubs Arsenal FC, Atlético de Madrid, and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) as well.

The Los Angeles Rams are hoping to bring a new and more diverse wave of football fans into the mix, with this sponsorship giving them more exposure across the globe.

“This is a tremendous opportunity to have Visit Rwanda sponsor SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park,” said Otto Maly, President of Kroenke Holdings. “SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park were built to be the World Stage and a true international destination. We are pleased to have the Rwanda Development Board choose to promote tourism and travel to Rwanda here at Hollywood Park, which will host a historic string of global events over the next few years.”

Clippers Aim to Drive More Youth Involvement in Basketball

In addition to becoming the jersey patch sponsor for the Clippers’ game and practice uniforms, Visit Rwanda will be an official tourism sponsor of the franchise. The Clippers are supporting the globalization of basketball and aiming to get more youth involved – both in terms of playing the sport and drawing more NBA fans.

Now, with Rwanda looking to draw more eyes and tourism possibilities, there’s arguably no greater place to spread the message than Los Angeles, the second-largest city in the United States.

When fans attend SoFi Stadium, one of the premier sporting venues in the world that can be expanded to fit 100,000 people, they will see Visit Rwanda signage throughout the building.

Spectators will walk into the West Owners Club (on Level 2) and the North Canyon Basin (on Level 3) and be met with innovative designs on the walls that highlight the nature of Rwanda and its landscape – hopefully inspiring football fans to book a fun vacation during the NFL offseason.

Visit Rwanda will also have digital ads playing on Sofi Stadium’s 70,000 square foot Infinity Screen, in addition to LED displays across Hollywood Park, the entertainment complex connected to the venue.

Visit Rwanda’s Process, and why Los Angeles was the top choice

Jean-Guy Afrika detailed to Forbes how strategic the process had to be. Nothing happens overnight, especially with signficant overhauls within your country. This has been every bit of a 22-year process to reach this point.

Rwanda’s commitment to the plan started in 2003 when the country made a deliberate decision to focus on high-end tourism. First realizing they had virtually no tourism infrastructure, such as hotels to accomodate guests or adequate transportational components, that’s where most of the efforts began.

Once the strategy was clear, Rwanda needed to install different types of tourism experiences. They originally pinpointed a few different activities such as gorilla trekking, canopy walking, and mountain climbing. Those ideas expanded into more avenues to utilize the Nyungwe Forest in southwest Rwanda and the Volcanoes National Park in the northwest region of the country.

Investing in different airlines was also a top priority, ensuring they could connect as many people to the area as possible.

When it became time to partner with major sporting brands, the first step was European soccer because of the high level of interest. Eventually, though, the decision was made to venture into United States opportunities – and it was a long process to pinpoint which teams and organizations made the most sense.

They narrowed down their options and put their focus on Los Angeles. According to Afrika, the United States still represents the largest portion of Rwanda’s tourism revenues, and LA’s demographics aligned closely with the type of people who typically visit their country.

“Figuring out which ones to focus on was was the initial challenge,” Afrika said. “But but when you look at the profile of the state itself, the fact that I believe it’s one of the highest income groups in the US … it has the profile of a person with a high likelihood of traveling. Then, the choice was almost natural.”

Like Zucker, he believes this partnership shouldn’t only be about getting Rwanda on the map. By encouraging more athletic involvement and creating more avenues for the youth to participate within their communities should have a greater impact that transcends generations.

“Beyond just using sports as a way to raise a sports partnership as a way to raise awareness, there’s also the values that that we’re trying to instill in our society,” Afrika said. “Values that you know, arguably not no other medium does better than sports values like excellence, discipline, team spirits, values that … even after you’ve played, continue to shape how you behave in society.”

In a way, while tourist attraction is vastly important to African countries such as Rwanda, building a powerful culture plays a major role in its future. Sports deliver a pathway for that.

“Sports has really taken an integral part in the Rwanda of tomorrow and it’s a continuation,” Afrika expressed. “We’re very excited about this partnership.”