Derby ‘gold’
Local football giants FCB Nyasa Bullets and Mighty Mukuru Wanderers have attributed the record K80.496 million gross from Saturday’s TNM Super League Blantyre derby to good organisation.
The latest episode of the battle of giants, which ended one-all, might have failed to stir the passions, but the age-old foes still went away with a record K16.877 million each.
The match attracted a nearly capacity crowd and by close of business on Friday, entry tickets, especially for open stands, had sold out.
Bullets, who were the hosts, said the pre-match planning was done to near perfection, leading to the record gross.
The People’s Team chief administration officer Albert Chigoga said: “It’s unprecedented. There are many factors that have led to the record breaking revenue.
“Rigorous game promotion, well-coordinated match organisation, the hype created by the two clubs and, of course, entry fee adjustments, were among the key factors.”
In his reaction, Wanderers chief executive officer Panganeni Ndovi said: “Well, the increase in gate fees could play a big role on this one, but the amount realised is a symbol of how much the fans are committed to watching the game.
“There is an opportunity to increase the revenue realised.”
On the other hand, Super League of Malawi (Sulom) general secretary Williams Banda attributed the high revenue “to team spirit and improvement in efficiency towards security coordination and expectations among spectators on the match”.
He said: “E-ticketing is also being embraced as an effective and efficient gate management strategy. Nevertheless, we will be engaging TNM plc to get an update to iron out the challenges and build on the opportunities.”
An advance open stand ticket was fetching K4 000 while on match day it attracted anadditional K1 000. MBC Stand was pegged at K5 000 for an advance ticket and K6 000 on match day.
A ticket for the covered stands was selling at K8 000 in advance and K10 000 on match day while a seat in the comfort of the VIP was selling at K18 000 in advance and K20 000 on match day.
According to the gate collection summary sheet match day ticket sales generated K43 673 000 while e-ticketing fetched K3 218 000
Stadium owners also got K16. 877 million as 25 percent ground levy.
Football Association of Malawi and Sulom got K6.751 million each while Malawi National Council of Sports got K3.375 million.
Before the latest derby, Last season’s TNM Super League match at the same venue, was record having grossed K68 million.
From that, Bullets, Wanderers and the stadium owners got K13.9 million each,Sulom and FAM got K5.57 million while Sports Council received K2.78 million.
Football analyst Charles Nyirenda said the gross revenue reflecte the turnout.
“We have to congratulate all those who were involved in the organization of the match. The patronage was very good,” he said.
