PSL’s ‘marketing’ ploy to attract football fans

Sy Lerman

After brushing up the process of rent-a-crowd, the PSL are referring to it as marketing and making no bones about the innovations to draw the crowds to often empty stadiums.

No better example of this surfaced in the recent MTN Final at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban in which SuperSport United shaded Cape Town City 5-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

Advertised as a means of rewarding loyal fans with what was described as “an unprecedented experience” in appreciaition for their dedication and support, but in reality meant to ensure a respectable crowd and maintain an interest the sponsors demand.

“There are different degrees of marketing,” conceded top PSL official Professor Ronnie Schloss. “Some games and events require more motivation than others. Some hardly require any marketing.”

This was hardly the case when SuperSport and Cape Town City emerged as unexpected MTN8 finalists, with the former boasting only a meagre support base in spite of a commendable record of success and the latter’s appeal still based in Cape Town.

So with the real prospect of the final becoming an attendance white elephant, the PSL and the tournament sponsors attached a pop concert, handed out free air time to MTN cell holders and kept admission at a modest R40 for adults.

It worked well with more than 20 000 spectators turning up.

The PSL has elevated the process, launching the Telkom Knockout this week, with R1 million worth incentives available to spectators from a contrived goal-scoring competition.