The 77th Blantyre derby between Mighty Wanderers and FCB Nyasa Bullets at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre on Saturday grossed a record K154.9 million, which was almost K100 million more than the collection in the previous derby in October last year.
Last season’s second round Super League derby grossed K55.1 million.
The amount has also surpassed the K88.3 million record gross that was set in the FDH Bank Cup round of 16 match between the two local football giants in July last year.
In Saturday’s match, which the Nomads won 1-0 to end their arch-rivals’ dominance, about K21.252 million went towards expenses, leaving a net of K133.710 net.
According to a gate collection summary sheet, K78.305 million was generated on match day, K64.141 million through pre-sale of tickets while about K9.52 million was made through e-ticketing.
The two teams got K36. 770 million each while venue owners, Ministry of Youth and Sports received about K33.428 million as ground levy.
Super League of Malawi (Sulom) received K13.371 million while Football Association of Malawi and Malawi National Council of Sports received about K6.686 million each.
However, Wanderers, who were the home side, believe that the figure could have been slightly more had it not been for some fake tickets that were detected at some point.
Nevertheless, the Nomads’ brands and marketing manager Greyson Chapita said they were satisfied with the record gross revenue.
He said: This is historic for the Blantyre derby and it reflects the positive impact of our intensified marketing efforts, teamwork, and close collaboration with all stakeholders, including our colleagues from FCB Nyasa Big Bullets.
“The turnout was impressive, and fans were treated to a well-organised and exciting match.
“That said, like in any business, there’s always room to do more. One of the limiting factors remains stadium capacity due to the cordoning of some of the open stands, Otherwise, we can only do with what we had.
“We also continue to face challenges such as the circulation of fake tickets, which is worrisome. Thankfully, we were able to detect and intervene in good time before it caused major damage.”
Chapita said the issue of counterfeit tickets was reported to the police although no arrests had been made yet as of yesterday.
He said: “We quickly stepped in to curb the situation. It appears to be a coordinated syndicate, and we are committed to getting to the bottom of it. While it didn’t significantly affect our revenue this time, we take this very seriously and we will continue working with all relevant stakeholders to ensure such malpractice is eliminated completely.
“Overall, the derby was a success, and the biggest winners are the supporters who experienced a truly memorable event. We will keep pushing the boundaries to make each game better than the last.”
On his part, Bullets acting chief executive officer Albert Chigoga said: “We are very satisfied. The gross revenue reflects the turnout.”
On the other hand, Sulom general secretaryWilliams Banda said: “K154.9million is a good record compared with other similar matches”.
Commenting on the fake tickets, he said: “We need to check those fake tickets that might translate to a small percentage of revenue loss. Cost drivers in operations is another factor.
“All in all, we have witnessed signs of maturity among supporters and referees.”
Ministry of Youth and Sports spokesperson Macmillan Mwale said they were also satisfied with the revenue.
“However, the facility remains a subject of discussion as it requires some major maintenance, otherwise we need another facility; hence, focus is on completion of Soche Stadium project,” he said.
The open stand ticket was selling at K8 000 on match day and K6 000 in advance.
