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Bernard Gwarada
Correspondent
COMMERCIALISATION in football is simply about making profit from the “beautiful game”.
This can be done through combining football with business’s economic and financial activities.
For the process to succeed, the feelings of the football consumer (the supporter) must be taken into account.
In a mixed economy (capitalistic society) like Zimbabwe, the commercialisation of football is inevitable as it is a money-making market for football investors.
It must be noted that football commercialisation is a sign of changing times as the game is evolving worldwide.
The benefits of commercialisation include increased professionalism, creation of jobs, sports participants pay taxes to the Government, there is boosting of other industries and the clubs themselves, who turn professional, put our country on the map.
Most importantly, sport, in particular football, will give the youth, especially the unemployed, good exposure and they will desist from anti-social behaviour.
While commercialisation of football is not a new phenomenon, research reveals that in Zimbabwe there is no commercialisation of football at both club and national level despite the fact that the game has great potential to contribute to the economic development of the country.
Only CAPS United have declared its intention to commercialise.
There has to be a buy-in from the Government, as research reveals that Government creates a conducive environment for football to thrive.
It becomes critical for football to put its house in order so that trust is regained from Government.
For example, the Rwanda Government paid a whopping £30 million to Arsenal for the “Visit Rwanda” jersey deal.
Here, the Government is seized with more pressing commitments due to competing demands and an unfavourable economic environment.
Club licensing
Club licensing is a CAF working document for football development aimed to raise minimum standards in football governance.
Its objective, among other things, is to make sure that clubs run their business in a professional way and it is expected that every club should have a club house, a football ground, full-time and qualified personnel and well defined ownership.
This will entice corporates to come and put money in football.
However, for most clubs in Zimbabwe this is a pipedream. Most have failed to wholly meet the set standards due to lack of resources and, to some extent, ineffective leadership.
Value proposition
In football, the value proposition is centred on the team brand, fan experience and the match ticket pricing. Highlanders and Dynamos are better positioned should they decide to commercialise because of their relatively huge support bases.
The fan bases are a fertile ground for commercialisation.
In a value proposition, customer experience (brand loyalty) is key and these two clubs have die-hard supporters and can exploit value from the experience gained over the years.
One then wonders why they are not commercialising as all the ingredients are at their disposal.
During the Dream Team-era, the stadiums were packed to capacity. The Government and ZIFA may need to take advantage of this enthusiastic support for the “beautiful game” and seriously consider commercialisation and internationalisation of the senior national teams as a game-changing strategy as this has worked well elsewhere.
Capital investment
Research has revealed there is a positive relationship between a club’s financial position and performance. Well-funded company-owned teams such as FC Platinum, Chicken Inn FC, Ngezi Platinum FC, Manica Diamonds FC and Triangle FC performed well over the past few years and all finished in top seven last year.
CAPS United are eyeing a listing on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.
Selling football equity is the way to go in this challenging economic environment and a way of raising revenue for the club.
The team can then afford to attract quality players and compete with those clubs backed by corporates.
Over the years a number of clubs have folded and through listing, risk is shared and no new debt will be incurred by the former sole owners.
Musa Gwasira’s colourful team Lengthens and Cuthbert Chitima’s Gunners could not last the distance in the PSL because of financial challenges though their projects were well managed.
Infrastructure
Sport infrastructure is critical for the development of football, the quality of stadiums play an important role in influencing paying fans to come and watch club or national team matches. The CAF ban on our stadia showed an apparent lack of seriousness in the way we view and run football.
In Europe, research has shown that availability of quality stadiums influence match attendance more than the match day ticket prices.
The Golden Triangle
Commercialisation of football involves sponsorship, media and (sport) football. This can further be illustrated by the aspect of The Golden Triangle.
For example, a travel company donates a football kit to a PSL club and requests the media to the kit presentation. In that regard, the golden triangle has created some benefits to the football club (sport), the travel agent (sponsor) and the media (newspaper).
The above variables are strongly interlinked and are dependent on one another. Through media coverage, football clubs gain more fans and attract sponsorship.
The sponsorship come in the form of payment of salaries, as in the case of the NetOne deal with CAPS and Highlanders, Nyaradzo have, for years, been providing transport to a number of teams in PSL, including Dynamos and Chicken Inn. Herentals has been supporting all National teams with transport.
At Dynamos, Gold Leaf Tobacco is paying salaries and operational expenses
There is need for another satellite TV company which can offer live coverage via free-to-air channels on a Pay-per-view system.
It can be seen that commercialisation of football can benefit society through providing entertainment.
Junior Academies
There has been a steady rise in the football academy industry in Africa as European clubs attempt to capitalise on the business of player development.
Investing in junior football academies is a business strategy with high returns on investment if well managed.
From the above discussion, it can be seen that commercialisation is good for the game and there are plenty of economic benefits.
Bernard Gwarada is a research candidate in International Business at University of Pretoria’s GIBS Business School. He is a Co-owner of former Premier League Club Douglas Warriors FC and a former ZIFA Board member. He writes in his own capacity. Feedback: [email protected]
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