Flames, Comoros match grosses K20m
Saturday’s 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier between the Flames and Comoros at Bingu National Stadium (BNS) in Lilongwe grossed slightly over K20 million, Football Association of Malawi (FAM) commercial and marketing director Limbani Matola has confirmed.
This is an improved revenue for a competitive international match at the Chinese-built stadium as the recent Championship for African Nations (Chan) preliminary round second-leg qualifier against Madagascar grossed at least K5 million less after raking in K14.9 million.
“There is a significant growth of revenue in international games,” Matola said.
“The reforms we are currently pursuing regarding ticketing and gate management system are bearing fruits. We also intensified fans’ mobilisation and created awareness of the game through different platforms.”
He added that the partnerships they have with TNM and Airtel on e-ticketing has proven to be crucial and strategic because, in addition to enhancing e-ticketing solution, they are also helping to hype publicity through mass text messages and social media marketing.
The marketer further said the continued professional cash management by FDH Bank is also giving FAM great rewards as it is consolidating positive image and goodwill of the game.
“We are beginning to attract upper class patronage of fans to the stadium. It was a delightful and pleasant sight to see chief executive officers, non-governmental organisation leaders alongside business and government executives patronising the match and patriotically supporting and cheering the Flames.
“In fact, the whole west wing of the corporate boxes was sold out with convincing overflow to the east side,” Matola explained.
With the Flames win, FAM anticipates growing confidence and more patronage in the subsequent matches, as he said: “The future looks very promising.”
Out of the K20 058 895 gross, K5 091 270 was spent on direct expenses that included the police, stewards, first aid personnel, ticket printing, VIP protocol and ground workers.
Net revenue was K14.9 million, which was shared among FAM, BNS as ground levy and the Malawi National Council of Sports (MNCS). FAM received 70 percent of the net, which was K10.47 million while BNS got 25 percent (K3.74 million). MNCS got five percent (K748 381).
