tawandamusarurwa
Arthur Arthur Choga
FOOTBALL clubs are seen as glamour projects.
For outsiders, owning a football club is seen as the ultimate expression of being a successful entrepreneur.
Sadly, more often than not, the clubs are taking a toll on such investors.
We previously discussed how freeloaders were stealing from football clubs.
These include family members and friends who often want to attend matches and get merchandise for free.
Running a football club in Zimbabwe can best be described as an extreme sport.
Investing in buying a football club requires very deep pockets, or, at the very least, a number of corporate partners who complement the investor.
However, football clubs elsewhere in the world tend to make money on their own through ticket sales, sponsorships/partnerships, merchandise sales, television rights and player transfers.
Back home, ticket sales are not viable.
In the Premier Soccer League (PSL), the home team takes all the gate takings.
While it may sound like much, one needs to factor in match-day expenses, and these include security, ground rentals, levies for the Sports and Recreation Commission, the Zimbabwe Football Association, referees and cashiers.
Once these have been taken care of, the balance, which is peanuts, goes to the club.
Clubs now cannot depend on a decent turnout to generate meaningful income.
Most PSL clubs do not have kit sponsors.
They either buy their own kits or have them donated by well-wishers.
Usually, the well-wisher brands the kits with their business logos.
The chest area of a football jersey is the prime advertising space on the kit, and it commands the highest value, which corporates tend to pay top dollar to secure.
Just imagine how much recognition these brands got after placements on famous football jerseys: SHARP, JVC, Crown Paints, Newcastle Brown Ale, Philips and Opel.
Most teams owned by individuals end up sporting their owners’ brands on their shirt fronts.
Blackpool, for example, famously carried the Harare Parts Distributors brand on their kits.
The less said about merchandise sales the better.
The PSL is now in its third week, and club social media pages are awash with requests from fans about where to buy replica jerseys.
This is a global billion-dollar industry, but, with the exception of Bulawayo Chiefs, local teams have not moved into this field in any meaningful way.
Player transfers were once quite lucrative, especially when clubs had viable junior policies.
However, clubs now move the same players among themselves every off-season.
Very few players are moving across borders from established clubs, meaning there is reduced income from player sales.
Television rights remain a dream.
Most clubs pay their players a salary/allowance, but the greater income tends to come from winning bonuses.
When a team, therefore, plays matches and wins, the following Tuesday is usually payday, as the clubs pay out winning bonuses.
If the match is played away, the team has no match-day income and also incurs travel and accommodation costs.
Without other sources of income, the burden is naturally carried by the club owner.
The more a team wins, the more funds are needed to pay winning bonuses.
In the last 30 years, clubs such as Lengthens, Gunners, Kwekwe Cables, Nichrut, Amazulu, Fire Batteries, Douglas Warriors, Kambuzuma FC, Motor Action FC, Hackney FC (former Mhangura Mine franchise), Blackpool FC, Sporting Lions, Monomotapa, Masvingo United, Highway FC, Kiglon Bird and Buymore FC all shone on the local scene.
Thomas Mapfumo’s Sporting Lions brought a swagger to the league, and even though their stint was short-lived, fans came to see the Chimurenga music guru and his immaculately dressed team, which gave Kalisto Pasuwa and Lloyd Mutasa their coaching debuts.
At some point, clubs such as Gunners, Monomotapa, Motor Action and Amazulu won the PSL championship.
Masvingo United won the ZIFA Unity Cup in 2002.
These victories opened the door to represent the country in African competition.
Blackpool and Monomotapa gave great accounts of themselves in their African safaris, with Blackpool reaching the semi-finals of the old Cup Winners Cup in 1995, before losing on away goals to eventual champions JS Kabylie of Algeria.
They folded four seasons later, selling their franchise to Motor Action.
Monomotapa, who reached the mini-league stage of the Champions League in 2010, were relegated three seasons later.
The burden of self-financing the African safari and the local league is clearly unsustainable.
It is a shame that success leads to death.
There has to be a better reward for the people who take money from their own savings, family funds and other business ventures to bring entertainment to fans and employment to players in these teams.
Local football needs to ensure clubs are not victims of their own success.
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Tinaye Agere
Online Reporter