Bullets fans shun registration drive
Nyasa Big Bullets say the club’s supporters have not embraced the commercialisation drive, citing the registration exercise.
The People’s Team boasts the biggest fan base on the domestic scene, but its vice-president Fleetwood Haiya said that is not being reflected in the commercisalisation initiatives.
“We are having challenges. Supporters haven’t taken a big role in the commercialisation drive.
“According to our projection, we were expecting supporters to participate more in commercialisation initiatives, but that has not been the case.
“For instance, [our estimates] are that Bullets has over eight million supporters and we expected that at least one million of them, which is even less than 13 percent, would actively take part. But I can tell you that not even one percent of the supporters registered,” he was quoted as having said by MBC Radio 2FM.
However, the Bullets vice-president said Covid-19 also affected the initiative due to restrictions on public gatherings.
“But even before Covid-19, the response was lukewarm. So, I wouldn’t say that we are on the right track,” he said.
Nevertheless, Haiya is optimistic that once the situation normalises, the drive will gather momentum.
“We have lined up innovative ideas to revive the initiative and we are hopeful of wooing many supporters,” he said.
Be Forward Wanderers’ similar initiative also flopped last season and the Nomads have also been struggling to woo their supporters to take part in fundraising initiatives.
Football analyst George Kaudza Masina said the supporters registration drives shall remain a pipe dream for Super League teams if not handled well.
He said: “From the look of things, these club’s don’t have a clear agenda to convince the supporters to register as supporters formally.
“First, it has to be understood that the supporters are not only to be used as money-making machines for the clubs, but there should also be benefits for being a registered supporter.
“At the same time, there is a need to categorise the supporters portfolios with accompanied benefits for each category. These could be voting rights, being allowed to watch training sessions, buying club merchandise at discounted rates, discounted entry fees at home matches and subsidised transportation to away games, just to mention but a few.
“Otherwise, supporters registration will remain a song for the long time to came when clubs like Bullets, Wanderers and Silver Strikers have plenty to tap from as part of their commercialisation drive. A win win situation should be the way to go.
