05 Jun 2018

 Botswana Premier League (BPL) annual general assembly has given their board a thumbs up to allow clubs to print, sell and distribute their own game tickets.
For a long time, some clubs have been advocating for the BPL to give teams the burden to deal with tickets, as it would make it simple for them to print season tickets which supporters can buy in advance. Some argued that giving clubs the mandate to print tickets would give them an opportunity to come up with corporate packages, thus making the club sustainable in terms of cash flow.
The announcement is seen as a welcome development, and it is up to clubs to leverage on the arrangement as it can help them to curb the issue of failing to play players.
Sport Writers Association of Botswana (SWABo) president, Leatile Mmutle said the arrangement was long overdue for clubs to graduate and be responsible for ticketing.
“That is one area that can generate a lot of revenue for them. This will also allow the premier league office to focus on key strategic issues that can grow their product locally and beyond borders,” he said.
Furthermore, Mmutle noted that the BPL had been on benchmarking exercise in South African and La Liga, adding that he was confident that they learnt that clubs in those leagues were responsible for their own ticketing.
He said the arrangement favours teams to even come up with season tickets that supporters could buy before the ball was kicked in a new season.
Mmutle also said season ticket would give supporters a sense of belonging.
He, however, said the BPL should expect teething problems, and that they should have measures in place to curb or minimise such.
Furthermore, he said the BPL office should develop regulations that govern such an exercise, saying regulations should speak to issues such as whether teams would be allowed to collect money at the gates on match day.
Sunday Standard sport journalist, Botlhale Koothupile on the other hand said the arrangement was a double edged sword. He said it allowed teams to have access to all their monies. “Potentially, this means teams will generate more revenue as they will not have to share gate takings with the Botswana National Sports Council and BPL,” he said.
Koothupile said it also gave teams more power to market their tickets and price them in a way that would be beneficial to them.
“Now, this is why I say it is a double edged sword. We all know that there is a lot of hungry and greedy administrators in football. So, if this process is not well monitored, it will open a chance for them  to abuse the system as some may even print their own tickets,” he said. ENDS