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Bullets ignores financial loss

Nyasa Big Bullets failed to break even at the end of the Nyasa Big 4 International Bonanza the club organised at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre last weekend after making a K5 million loss.

Bullets chief executive officer Fleetwood Haiya yesterday said they have made a total of K25 million against their investment of at least K30 million in the three-day event that comprised Bullets, Be Forward Wanderers, Mozambican side Ferroviario De Nampula and Zimbabwe’s Chicken Inn.

Bullets’ McFaren Mgwira (L) tries to beat Zimbabwe’s Chicken Inn defender Nyasha Gurende during the bonanza

However, he said the financial loss is nothing compared to the main objective of the initiative, which was to use it as a marketing strategy to attract investors into partnering the club in the next annual event.

“Of course, we have made a bit less than what we put into the competition, but we do not regret because we have achieved our mission,” he said.

Earlier, Bullets said they had a K50 million budget for the inaugural bonanza, which Nampula won on goal aggregate after tying with Wanderers on five points from three games.

But Haiya clarified that their initial budget was later trimmed after getting some discounts from other stakeholders such as Football Association of Malawi (FAM), which accommodated the visiting teams at Mpira Village in Chiwembe, Blantyre.

Soccer analyst and marketer George Kaudza Masina said despite the loss, Bullets have set the pace for more goodies to come in their next activities.

“In any business venture you do not expect profits immediately.  The fact that the bonanza has been marketed, investors are likely going to follow as they have seen how serious Bullets are with their commercialisation drive,” he said.

“They have set the pace, which is a positive attribute for others to follow. The so-called K5 million loss is not a loss, per se, if we take into consideration the bonanza’s long-term contribution to the Bullets brand.”

FAM competitions and media director Gomezgani Zakazaka said the financial loss is nothing compared to the main goal of the initiative and they encourage other clubs to have similar initiatives in their commercialisation drive.

“Mind you, Bullets will also be playing in CAF [Confederation of African Football] Championship this year, so the matches also serve as part of that preparatory process. It is also capacity building on their administrators as they learned the part of what it takes to host high-profile international matches,” he said.

“We must also remember that Bullets signed a deal with Mibawa Television [TV] Station and the event helped them to try how TV broadcasting will bring value to the development of the club’s brand. We would not dwell much on the failure to break even on the takings because the bigger picture was not about the match day revenue.”

He said FAM commends Bullets for a well-organised event, which followed every step as per the regulations of the local soccer governing body. n

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