Football is bigger than business

Morris Mpala, MoB Capital Ltd
FOOTBALL is a complex business arena as it encompasses all there is to offer from emotions, money, ego, leisure, and motivation, other businesses, training, politics etc. This is an economic revolution like no other. The sooner it sinks in our mindsets the better for all its stakeholders from a Zimbabwean perspective.

Socio political remodelling is football. Football in this country was introduced to manage socio-political economics by keeping people busy to forgo thinking about socio-economic-political challenges. Past times engulf you and take your time and you are left with no thinking capacity for anything else besides resting and going back to your vicious cycle of the monotonous life.

It has that character building session, which a classroom can’t do. It does nurture calmness in its actors. You do have outliers, it’s human nature. It can be used as community management tool. To manage youth unemployment, to mitigate chaos, manage change, introduce brands and products etc.

It has conflict in that it can be tribal contest and need for identity can be of paramount importance but the bottom line will be economics. Football dominance is money just like in all brand competitiveness its motivation is economic gains. Trust me in all global professional transitions who else other than a handful taught footballers to set the rails straight. Then ‘commodity brokers’ can join in after the Zimbabwe EPL blueprint is published. This is big business.

During the transitional periods from amateurism, professionalism to commercialisation blunders will be made. Perfecting of the football business models takes too many pitfalls prior to getting it right and earning big dollars.

A trained sports practitioner manager (former or non player) is the best gold standard to set programs to be followed efficiently and effectively.

Streamlining football needs tact, flair and artistry, which are beyond passion.

During trans-culturisation of sport you need the on field knowledge and experience, that is, Brazil and Argentina philosophies come to the fore. Football is a business culture in the making in Zimbabwe from pastime of failed dreams. Business-Football culture is barbed wire culture but with one goal: financial freedom.

Business management schools agree sport is not 100 percent art, predictable and have over seven characteristics not counter tradable or merchandisable.

Thus, it needs a new approach to monetising different from your usual tired approach.

Players current or former need training, certification programmes to finance and manage football. The grooming aspect is chief in coming up with a modern model to incentivise it to transition from amateurish to the big league as it were. Bringing in former/current players is good publicity though.

Make them think straight Football Business.

Explore, dream, discover the Johan Cruyff story (the brilliant orange), Sir Sebastian, Rupert Murdoch, Pep Guardiola etc and you will appreciate the revolution that football is. You need to do something different to garner momentum in the changes you want to implement since resistance to change comes more natural than embracing it.

This is the only employing sector year round which is unheard of in Zimbabwe. The number of sectors that feed into football guarantee employment on a wider scope than first anticipated.

Got to follow through and hammer the thieving sport administrator who is diminishing the much needed resources in this gruelling sector. Put sport bare for everyone to understand the passion, the culture and the money involved (potential anyway). The football money is in masses they deserve better administrators with customer in mind. They need to understand the fanaticism and send the football product into the masses.

Administrators are to blame for the ignorance they use training as bait to submission. Carrot and stick messes up football as it encourages toeing the line even if in disagreement. Extortive limited training programs to close selected groups within a clan in power to persuade cronyism excludes or sidelines some talented cadres. You kill the culture which is the DNA of success from stakeholders. Look at Peter Ndlovu, Binga-Makokoba to Coventry, Benjani Mwaruwari Magwegwe to Man City, and Norman Mapeza from dusty areas to Champions League then to Borrowdale. If that isn’t empowerment then I don’t know what is. This is total financial emancipation through football business not just football.

Food for thought

IT IS EASIER/POSSIBLE TO TEACH A WORLD CLASS FOOTBALLER BUSINESS FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING THAN TO MAKE AN ACCOUNTANT A WORLD CLASS FOOTBALLER.

Hooliganism is a symbol of a passionate mind that needs proper management and turned into dollars and cents. Clever administrators see hooligan fans as passionate potential clients.

Discover the how to turn them around so that their energies are not misplaced. Manage risk don’t avoid it if you catch my drift. It is now beyond reasonable doubt that football is bigger than business but why not turn into business first before all else that it is. Please excuse my humble background to me football is generic for sport.

IF YOU LIVE IN BYO PLEASE CONSERVE WATER. IF YOU LIVE IN ZIMBABWE PLEASE USE ELECTRICITY SPARINGLY: SOS (SWITCH OFF SWITCHES). IF YOU LIVE ON PLANET EARTH PLEASE PRESERVE THE ENVIRONMENT

Morris Mpala is the managing director of MoB Capital, a Bulawayo-headquartered micro-finance institution with footprint across the country.