adminNgqwele Dube Sports Correspondent
THE first quarter of the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League has seen a marginal increase in attendance with 5 809 more fans paying to watch games compared to last year.Figures from the PSL show that last year 95 037 fans paid their way into stadia to watch the first five games of the season while this year the figure has gone up to 100 846. A worrying trend last year saw fan attendance go down from 643 293 in 2012 to 495 098 in 2013, which was a marked drop.
The match featuring Highlanders and Hwange at Barbourfields Stadium on 27 April had the highest attendance with 8 796 spectators in the terraces, followed by the Dynamos-ZPC Kariba match which recorded 7 857 fans, the Bosso-Chicken Inn game was watched by 7 393 spectators while 6598 fans paid to watch Highlanders thrash Shabanie Mine 4-1 at Barbourfields.
PSL chief executive officer Kennedy Ndebele said they were making efforts to ensure more people attended games and expressed hope that maybe this was a sign more fans were going to attend matches.
He said while there was no scientific research on why more fans had attended games this year, the reduction of the lowest priced ticket from last year’s $5 to $3 had had an impact.
Ndebele also attributed the increase to fewer midweek games which usually see fewer people going to match venues.
Meanwhile, Ndebele said they would continue working on improving management of gates with a new ticketing system going on trial next month
He said they have engaged several companies for the trial run for the new ticketing system that would also avail pre-match tickets.
Online Reporter