MTN to renew backing the top eight competition

21 August 2016 - 02:00 By BARENG-BATHO KORTJAAS

This week's multimillion-rand splash by MTN to renew backing the top eight competition for five years confirms the healthy state of the PSL warchest.The evolution of the league into a billion-rand business in its 20-year celebration leaves an indelible impression.The standout features are the compliance-manual process that the PSL embarked upon in 2006.The governance and subsequent integration of club licensing has been massive for upholding professional operational standards.The benefits in terms of the infrastructure, medicine, training and media management make for a fantastic product.But, to be very blunt, there is a hazard on the horizon.Even though grants [PSL clubs get R1.5-million monthly allocations] have gone up 10-fold, the profitability and sustainability of clubs is the No1 danger.Salaries have spiralled.When SuperSport signed Patrick Mayo in 2000, the R600,000 they shelled out to Bush Bucks made him a record signing for a salary of R22,000.These days, a player breaking the transfer fee commands R4-million to R5-million a year.On the flip side, the finances have been positive for the inflow into football for servicing the broader environment.For instance, 15 years ago, clubs never had data analysis. Nowadays, every club has one. Back in the day, scientific support for clubs cost around R240,000 a year.Now they are spending 25 times more for biokineticists, nutritionists and relevant support structures.While these strides by the Irvin Khoza-led administration have laid a firm foundation and created conditions conducive for financial growth, it begs a question: What happens when the time arrives for chairman Khoza and his right-hand man, Kaizer Motaung, to exit the executive?The PSL board of governors consists of 32 club bosses - 16 each from the PSL and the National First Division.But Khoza and Motaung, who chairs the finance committee, drive all the value through their nous and respective personal brands.The duo's influence is not lost to their comrades who fear for the worst. "Without Irvin we will be in s***. He has helped build this product.He has been able to handle the politics, helped the league command the respect of corporate South Africa in terms of the broadcast deals and various sponsorships."Do we have the kind of person to deal with the shenanigans and steady the ship in the way he has done? When he and Kaizer go, it will leave a huge void," a club boss told this writer after the MTN8 sponsorship renewal.That fear speaks to the unspoken admission: the PSL has not prepared an emerging layer of a younger generation of administrators to take the game forward.In so doing, it is failing to attract a younger audience in sync with a thinking heavily influenced by modern world technology.That market owns the technology, the internet. They are the future. But they have dozens of alternatives in terms of spending time and money. If the PSL doesn't compete in that space and new-age culture, it runs the risk of falling off the cliff at some point in the future.The thinking and the approach needs to change. We can't keep on relying on Chiefs and Pirates getting fans into the stadium. We need something fresh. Leadership-wise, there doesn't seem to exist a strong enough youth focus.A case in point: the league had to recall Dan Leboa from retirement to replace the suspended Derek Blankensee. There's a steady stream of the younger generation at individual clubs.Media-shy Nkosana Khoza operates in the background at Pirates. Bobby Motaung calls the shots at Kaizer Chiefs as does Rantsi Mokoena, son of Free State Stars owner Mike, to name but three. But the idea of having a home in every province does little in the way of creating a fortress But how far does their involvement in the affairs of league administration extend?Another worrying aspect about the league is the ease with which clubs are sold. Mpumalanga Black Aces becomes Cape Town City in the blink of an eye.Good luck with your old replica jerseys, Mbombela folks. It is a kick in the teeth and spit in the face of fans struggling to make ends meet in a brutally harsh economy.It breeds zero prospects of building brand loyalty to so-called smaller teams. The nomadic nature of the teams is a bother.It is understandable that they cannot buy stadiums. But the idea of having a home in every province does little in the way of creating a fortress.Yesterday, a team played at FNB. Today, it plays at Cape Town Stadium. Tomorrow, it will play at Moses Mabhida.This leaves the fans singing Ladysmith Black Mambazo's Homeless. The PSL can do with some reinventing of the wheel. How? By creating attractive, must-not-miss matches that stretch beyond the Chiefs-Pirates derby.In terms of innovation, let's try introducing Super Sunday matches.Most top-notch matches are squeezed into Saturday.While the 2010 World Cup gave birth to world-class stadiums, those facilities mainly draw capacity crowds for the Soweto derby.The smaller Caledonian Stadium may be more suited to SuperSport United than the bigger Lucas Moripe venue.If you look at countries such as Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda, their venues are largely 10,000 to 15,000 seaters. It makes for good television.The Multichoice Diski Challenge has shown that smaller stadiums in the townships can be revived.The Seshego, Sinaba and Galeshewe have become viable venues that are always packed.The PSL and clubs must invest more effort and energy to make stadium attendance a fully-fledged experience instead of just a wham- bam 90 minutes, thank you for coming.bbk@sundaytimes.co.za..

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