The Sunday News
WHEN any business is faced with liquidity problems it is likely to ramp up efforts to get more money in the business through either borrowing, cutting costs or coming up with strategies to increase revenue.
Local football clubs have not been spared the financial turbulence that has engulfed the country and many have been seeking strategies to survive.
While some have managed to stay afloat, others like former Premier Soccer League champions Motor Action have folded, former PSL team Quelaton has changed hands and others have found the going tough although they hang in there.
One of the oldest clubs in the country, Highlanders Football Club recently launched a bid to have levies by various service providers among them the Zimbabwe Republic Police and Bulawayo City Council slashed in a bid to see the club maximise on returns from their regular source of income, gate takings.
The club released statistics that show that despite developing the product that football fans go to watch at stadia they actually get the least income from the paying public, with other service providers and statutory bodies raking in the bulk of entrance fees.
According to Highlanders chief executive officer Ndumiso Gumede audited accounts revealed in a game against Black Rhinos, Bosso raked in a gross of $17 372 but after deductions the club only remained with $6 224 with the police taking $1 434 and the council, which charges $2 000 or 20 percent for the use of Barbourfields Stadium, walking with $3 474.
Against Bantu, there was a gross of $18 955, police took $1 494 for their services and BCC raked in $3 791, when Bosso played visiting American side, University of Notre Dame they grossed $3 990 and earned $497 with police taking $556 and the council $783.
When Highlanders played Harare City, the council took $2 999 and the police got $1 536 with the home team making $4 800 from a total of $14 999.
The rest of the funds would go to pay other service providers such as cashiers, private security with bodies such as the PSL, football governing body Zifa and the Sports and Recreation Commission also getting a percentage.
It is now acknowledged that the game has to be run like a business and clubs have to make the most out of their income with little funds going out.
While Highlanders has met little success in having the police and the council reduce their levies, the question that remains is whether there are other avenues clubs can use to increase revenue without necessarily relying on gate takings.
Internationally teams have managed to survive with little gate takings as more income is derived from other revenue streams such as shirt sponsors, technical sponsorships, touchline advertising, selling of branded club merchandise and television rights among others.
However, locally such alternative income streams are hard to come by with few companies willing to be associated with football clubs through sponsoring shirts, while clubs are still struggling to benefit from touchline advertising and Highlanders, Dynamos and Caps United are likely to be the only teams that can sell club merchandise profitably due to the sizeable following they command compared to other teams.
The situation has led to most teams in the league being company-owned with close to three-quarters of the teams in the 16-team league being run by business entities.
Bantu Rovers, Chicken Inn, How Mine, Harare City, Triangle, FC Platinum, Black Rhinos, Hwange, Chapungu, Buffaloes and ZPC Kariba all fall under corporate entities while Shabanie Mine was also company sponsored but the entity SMM fell on hard times. Highlanders, Dynamos, Chiredzi United and Caps are the only teams that are not owned by business entities.
Dynamos chairman Kenny Mubaiwa said it was unfortunate clubs were finding it difficult to tap into other revenue streams because of lack of buying power of supporters and companies.
“We rolled out replica jerseys hoping fans would buy them but they are lamenting the price and still opting for imitations that do not benefit the club financially while advertising rights are not being taken up by businesses as they are persistently citing financial challenges,” he said.
Gumede blamed the economic situation prevailing in the country, saying under normal circumstances companies would be fighting to be associated with clubs like Bosso that have a strong and popular appeal and they would not be struggling to attract corporate partners.
He concurred with Mubaiwa adding that fans felt $50 for a replica was too much and were opting for cheaper “$5 for two” jerseys which dented the image of the club.
“Clubs in other countries receive grants or direct funding from football bodies or government but here the situation is different. As Highlanders we have diversified operations and have a Club House and recently we started operating Manwele Beer Garden where we hope to get more revenue. However, these two are not generating revenue according to their potential. Lower patronage at the Club House has seen the office supporting it instead of it being the other way round.
“In South Africa teams are paid to play in stadiums like the FNB Stadium whereas in Zimbabwe we are milked by authorities who have turned amenities they built for their residents into revenue generating ventures,” said the veteran football administrator.
Another issue that has been described as “daylight robbery” in local football circles is the fact that clubs are not benefiting a single cent from touchline advertising.
Local authorities, who own most stadiums particularly in Harare and Bulawayo, contracted advertising company, Askeland Media, to handle advertising on their behalf at stadiums are the ones raking in cash from touchline advertising.
However of concern has been lack of investment in stadiums with Ascot Stadium in Gweru having torn nets, which only cost just $200 which the Gweru City Council can afford considering what they get from the venue every week.
Despite efforts by the PSL and Zifa to have teams benefit from touchline advertising over the past three years, it seems their efforts have hit a brick wall as both Gumede and Mubaiwa confirmed they do not get any income from touchline advertising.
Local authorities seem to be making more from football as they also rent out stadium kiosks, with clubs not getting a percentage of the revenue from the leasing of the vending stalls.
The DeMbare boss said they were finding it difficult to partner companies in producing varied club-branded merchandise that could be sold to cover costs.
Gumede revealed merchandise was an aspect they could get more revenue from and were looking at ways of getting income through that avenue.
All PSL clubs are benefiting from a broadcasting rights deal PSL reached with pan-African sports broadcaster Supersport and due to the infancy of the agreement teams are not earning as much compared to their counterparts in South Africa.
PSL chief executive officer Kennedy Ndebele said merchandise and fund-raising activities could add to clubs’ coffers.
“When we talk about merchandise, I think we should not limit ourselves to replicas but look at the bigger picture and include branded items like mugs, pens, water bottles, T-shirts, caps and glasses among other items,” said Ndebele.
