The story behind the scenes

Clubs recovering from COVID-19

The last two years have been difficult for a number of PSL sides who have been trying to recover from the effects of COVID-19. Without supporters being able to attend matches, due to the lockdown that was imposed by the South African government, club chairmen have been working tirelessly to balance the books. Clubs have had to bounce back after missing out on ticket sales for close to two seasons and the Siya crew understands that prices are sometimes influenced by this.

How it works with Ticketpro & Computicket…

The Siya crew has been given insight into how ticket sales work when they are purchased through Ticketpro and Computicket.

An insider at one of the clubs in the PSL explained that there is a percentage taken by the two companies for every ticket sold.

“I know with Computicket, they take five percent for every ticket sold, and then for the complimentary tickets, they charge at R1.50 per ticket. So, let’s say as a club you have a partnership with one of the media publications and you give them tickets, these are the ones I am talking about. So, those are the ones charged at R1.50 per ticket,” the source revealed.

Season tickets the way to go?

There are a few clubs who have introduced season tickets for the supporters, and this has come with huge discounts for the followers of the game. Kaizer Chiefs, Cape Town City, Marumo Gallants, Stellenbosch FC and Galaxy are just some of the clubs in the league who have season tickets as an option.

City supporter Sekhonyana Rakaota, popularly known as ‘King SK’, is one of the season tickets holders for the Citizens and has given insight into how this has benefitted his pocket.

“The ticket prices do not affect people like me because I am using season tickets. Our season ticket is R500. If you were to pay each of the 15 home games we play, I think you’d pay around R900. So, you can see that this is a huge discount for us as supporters,” Rakaota explained to the Siya crew.

“In a way, we can say our team is subsidizing us. I would advise people to look into getting season tickets. When you have that type of discount, supporters won’t hesitate to attend games.”

Chiefs, together with Stadium Management South Africa, launched season tickets for the matches they have scheduled for FNB Stadium this season, with a season ticket going at R750. This includes the 2021/22 jersey, one free soft drink or beer per game and a pre-arranged stadium tour.

Galaxy, meanwhile, explained how their season tickets work.

“They start from five games to 10 games and 15 games. We’ve got different packages. We will be partnering with 15 schools in Nelspruit. Each school will get an opportunity to have their boys coming to the stadium to be our ball boys. We are also trying to push our merchandise with the season tickets,” Mkhize said.

AmaZulu do not have season tickets, but it’s something the club is looking at introducing going forward.

“We are looking into it. With Moses Mabhida Stadium being our main home, we want to establish it there. But obviously we would like it to have added benefits. You don’t just want it to be a season ticket,” Mkhathini said.