What the Siya crew has been told…

The bigger clubs, who have a serious following, the Siya crew has been informed, will have to spend more on safety and security, medical personnel and services such as cleaning for when supporters leave the stadiums.

The Siya crew has gathered that the Big Three clubs are expecting an influx of supporters to make their way to the stadium, and they are preparing thoroughly to ensure that they meet all the requirements, due to the excitement supporters have of finally being allowed to return to the stadiums.

One of the informants, in fact, told the Siya crew that supporters of Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates are eager to return to the stadiums due to the fact that their clubs have not been doing so well, as a way to put pressure on the technical teams. And depending on how things go, it may require both Soweto giants to appoint more security personnel for the technical team.

The Siya crew has been led to believe that the Big Three clubs spend no less than R150 000 in putting together their matches and it could, in fact, be much more than that, though they have a better chance of making a profit, compared to other clubs who don’t have a big following.

Former Stadium Management CEO Jacques Grobbelaar, who is now working for Cape Town City, has given a clear insight on the expenses PSL clubs are going to incur as they welcome their supporters back to the stadium. Some of the expenses include safety and security, personnel to check vaccination certificates, cleaning services, signage and staff to work in some of the suites, which includes catering and cleaning.

This is on top of the amount that the clubs pay to rent the venues, due to the fact that South African clubs do not own their own stadiums.

“With the stadiums open, we work on the basis that there will 50 percent of the capacity and 50 percent of the suites. We are going to deploy safety and security, having the police and all the legislative event management requirements.

“We are going to make sure that we can deal with access at the gates, based on the tickets and vaccination certificates. So, we’ve got to have people checking that, to ensure everyone has vaccination certificates (or negative COVID-19 test results). So, you are going to spend a little bit more on safety and security. You are going to spend more on access control and directional signage and the speed fencing that we use in directing spectators to the right areas in the stadium and making sure that we don’t overpopulate and under-populate certain areas.

“So, there is an additional cost factor in dealing with spectators, but it’s not that it’s breaking the bank because most of the smaller games you are dealing with an average of 6000 or 7000 supporters.

“It’s only your big games against Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates where you are dealing with a bigger capacity and that’s where you are going to spend a little bit more on your safety and security and event management. Under normal circumstances, your small events are most probably always running at a loss. You might be looking at R80 000 on the cost of a small event and now the cost might have a 10 percent increase on that number. It’s a very marginal increase, so for us, I would not say it’s breaking the bank.

“You’d spend about R80 000 for bringing about 5000 fans into the stadium and it’s going to differ with stadiums across the country. Out of the 15 games a club plays at home, you might make a loss in 11 of the games and in four of the games you might be breaking even or making a profit.”

There is a relief, however, for some of the clubs who have a partnership with their municipalities, such as Baroka FC.

“Fortunately for us, we have an agreement with the municipality, whereby the security at our home matches is provided for by them. What we provide is the paramedics on matchday, which comes with the ambulance. So, it’s a win-win situation for us,” club chairman Khurishi Mphahlele told the Siya crew.

“The cleaning service is provided by the municipality of the stadium. Currently, we are going to spend on the sanitizing and the stadium, which is a cost. Those are some of the costs we have. On one game, I would say we spend about R120 000.

“We do make profit at times, but it depends on the games. When we have Chiefs, Pirates and Sundowns or a good cup game, we are then able to make money. That’s where we get our money from.”