What are the facts?
Football, as most club owners would attest, is a business and teams are often looking for ways to make money or meet their financial demands, to ensure the club does not sink. For PSL clubs, some without sponsors, making some money from ticket sales to cover the costs of hosting is of utmost importance.
To get a deeper understanding of why clubs increase ticket prices when they host the Big Three, TS Galaxy media officer Minenhle Mkhize spoke to this publication about the costs of hosting a PSL match, with security being top of the list.
According to rule 14.23. in the PSL handbook, the failure to provide adequate safety or security in terms of these rules will result in… • 14.23.1. the home Member Club being liable for all costs of all affected parties occasioned by the non-compliance with
this Rule; and • 14.23.2. the Member Club being
charged with misconduct. “Security is R50 000, (renting) Mbombela is R80 000, getting the cleaning company for after the match is R30 000, entertainment is R50 000, VIP section is R80 000,” Mkhize revealed.
“The ticket prices are determined by the nature of the game. At TS Galaxy, we sell our tickets at R50 for those which are not Category A matches. Obviously, we have not hosted any Category A matches yet (this season), which is your Chiefs, Pirates and Sundowns, but when it comes to those matches, the prices differ because the cost of hosting that particular match is huge compared to the normal games against Golden Arrows or Marumo Gallants. I think that’s why most of the clubs tend to change the price when they are playing
Chiefs, Pirates or Sundowns, because of the cost of hosting games of that nature. The security has to be enhanced and the interest grows from people, which means there will be more costs. There are also
suite tickets that are sold. The packages at Mbombela for the corporate suite start at R15 000 per game. For the big matches, clubs do make profit from ticket sales.”
Not all of the PSL clubs increase ticket prices. AmaZulu FC is one of the clubs in the league that keep a standard ticket price throughout the season.
“We are not a club that does that (increase prices). We’ve never done that, even with previous management. Our prices are standard. For us, it’s to address family attendance, where people can come to the stadium. The ticket prices are R60,” Usuthu media officer Brilliant Mkhathini tells the Siya crew.