BT derby grosses record K27m
The Blantyre derby between rivals Be Forward Wanderers and Nyasa Big Bullets played on Saturday at Kamuzu Stadium grossed a record K27 million.
The revenue has beaten the record set by the 2015 Blantyre Derby which grossed just over K26 million.
The two clubs, who got K5.7 million each, have since expressed satisfaction on how the gates were managed.
Home team Be Forward Wanderers vice-chairperson Gift Mkandawire thanked Super League of Malawi (Sulom) for ensuring that all loopholes were sealed at the turnstile.
Sulom treasurer Tiya Somba-Banda said the record gate collection was a result of consolidated efforts from stakeholders.
“As Sulom, we are humbled and proud to break our own K26 million record that was collected last season. We are grateful to the supporters and the security detail because the K27 million has been realised without supporters overflowing to the cordoned areas of the stadium as it was the case last season,” he said.
Somba-Banda also applauded police and stewards for maintaining order.
“The security detail played a big role to ensure that the stadium was safe and secure, at the same time every person who entered the stadium paid. We know it is not an easy task, but the police, stewards and the teams’ supporters played a big role for the match to realise the record K27 million collection.
“This gives us stamina and encouragement to further engage all stakeholders in our quest to maximise gate revenues for the teams. We will continue exploring ways and means of improving the system as we are commercialising our game. We applaud the fans who parted with their hard earned money to watch the derby,” Somba-Banda said.
However, the revenue has missed a K30 million target that Sulom set.
“We planned for a 20 000 turnout, thus around K30 million in revenue which we have just missed marginally with 10 percent. The K27 million is not far from our expectations and we are glad that the teams are satisfied with the amount collected.”
Bullets general secretary Kelvin Moyo also noted that there was significant improvement in gate management.
Bullets maintained their superiority over Wanderers, thanks to a lone strike from rejected stone Kondwani Kumwenda in the 21st minute. n
