VIPS costing clubs millions

Stadium owners and clubs lose millions of kwacha in gate revenue through complimentary entries to VIP and covered stands, Weekend Nation has established.

These stands are usually filled with club, Sulom, FAM, government officials, referees, players and former football administrators, most of whom are financially better than those that watch the games from the open stands.

Ironically, most revenue for the clubs comes from the open stands and it raises the question as to who are Malawi football’s genuine supporters, the rich or the poor?

Probably, the worst scenario was when an Orange Partners Charity Shield Tournament, which took place in April 2013 at Civo Stadium, made a loss of nearly K3.1 million because of VIP complimentary tickets. Yet the tournament was meant to be a fundraiser.

“We tried to control entry, but it was beyond us. Everyone claimed to be an official of this or that organisation and they vouched for each other. If gate revenue is to be maximised, there is need for the executives to be paying for VIP seats,” said George Tambala who chaired the Orange Partners Charity Shield organising committee.

Civo Stadium has 400 VIP seats and 300 each in the two covered stands. During the Orange Partners Charity Shield, VIP tickets were selling at K5 000 whereas a seat at the covered stands was supposed to fetch K2 000.

According to the event’s organisers, VIP stands alone were supposed to realise K2 million while  K1.2 million was expected from the covered stands, but only K130 000 was realised.

Kamuzu Stadium VIP stand seats 400 people while the two covered stands seat 550 people each.

During the Namibia game on Wednesday, tickets for covered stands were selling at K5 000 each while VIP entry was K10 000 and FAM was supposed to make K5.5 million from the covered stands and K4 million from the VIP stands, but these stands realised less than a million kwacha.

Civo United general secretary Rashid Ntelera acknowledged on Wednesday this week that as a club, they lose a lot of revenue through free entries at the VIP and covered stands.

He said even during games involving crowd-pullers such as Big Bullets and Mighty Wanderers, they incur huge losses.

“Apart from club supporters and officials from FAM and Sulom, the stands are also filled with players of other teams or even former players. It is a big loss. It is the low-income people that pay in the open stands without complaining, but people with money enter for free at VIP. There is need to shake up the system,” said Ntelera.

He said he took up the issue with FAM and Sulom during a stakeholders meeting last April.

“What I proposed was that clubs, Sulom and even FAM should pay for their officials so that stadium owners and clubs should benefit. It was agreed that starting from the 2013-14 season, the system will change, but nothing has changed yet, old habits die hard indeed,” said Ntelera.

Silver Strikers treasurer Fred Kalonga is equally concerned about the sad practice. He has described it as an incurable disease, admitting that the situation is the same at Silver Stadium.

“It is unfair to clubs, but we are helpless as a club. We are waiting for our sponsors [RBM] to introduce an e-ticketing system. That is the only solution. If all those that sit at the VIP paid, gate revenue would increase significantly,” said Kalonga.

He said the Silver Stadium VIP stand, which has 500 seats, could be making K2 million, “but when the stadium is filled to capacity, the most we have made is K90 000. It is a big loss in revenue collection,” he said.

The problem has not spared Blue Eagles’ home ground, Nankhaka. Unlike the other stadiums, the VIP at Nankhaka is mostly filled with senior police officers.

Here, again, it is the open stands where people are exposed to rain and sun which generate more revenue for the clubs.

 “Very little money is collected from the VIP stand as it is filled with senior police officers, and sometimes their family members. These people are supposed to pay,” said a Blue Eagles official who asked for anonymity.

While acknowledging that the system could do better, FAM chief executive officer Suzgo Nyirenda said officials from clubs, Sulom, referees and even FAM enter for free because they are stakeholders of the game.

 “As FAM, we make complimentary tickets for all stakeholders involved. We provide extra two tickets from each of our affiliates so that they watch the match. We cannot run away from that and work in isolation,” said Nyirenda.

He, however, agreed with Ntelera that gate revenue could improve if affiliates paid for their officials.

In other countries, there are VIP boxes where invited guests sit. An institution or an individual can buy the box and sit his guests without interfering with the gate collection system.