Sulom hits target
Super League of Malawi (Sulom) has hit its half a billion kwacha target in gate revenue for the just-ended season which is an all-time record.
The top-flight league’s treasurer Tiya Somba Banda yesterday said they made K531 937 495 in the 2018 season, about K47 million more than the previous season’s gross.
From the gross, the teams shared K208 012 889.82 while Sulom and Football Association of Malawi (FAM) got K41 253 370.97 each and K104 286 667.41 went towards ground levy.
Malawi National Council of Sports (MNCS) got K20 621 583.99 while K115 961 309.05 went towards security, cashiers and other stakeholders.
Somba Banda said the consistence in gate charges across the stadia contributed much towards the sum.
“New stadiums, Kasungu in particular, also contributed substantially and this can be proved by TN Stars’ revenue share amounting to K11 508 985.26 which was absolutely remarkable,” he said.
The Kasungu-based rookie outfit was the fourth highest earner.
Crowd pullers Nyasa Big Bullets, who were the eventual champions, earned K56 012 889 which was about K5.7 million more than what their age-old rivals Be Forward Wanderers got the previous season when they were the highest earning team.
In the just-ended season, the Nomads came second with K41 688 620.76 while Silver Strikers once again came third with K15 610 525.72 while relegated Nchalo United were the least earners with K3 772 932.57.
Somba Banda also said a move by some teams such as Bullets to take a bold step in having above average charges for their home matches, also made significant contribution towards the gross.
“Efforts from all stakeholders in managing the gates, especially measures that were agreed during pre-season meetings, also helped towards the cause,” he said.
TN Stars chairperson Jones Banda attributed his team’s impressive revenue to the love shown by their supporters.
“For a new team in the top league to hit such figures was awesome and we owe it to our supporters who followed us everywhere,” he said.
Bullets chief executive officer Fleetwood Haiya could not be reached for comment but Wanderers general secretary Mike Butao said: “We are disappointed but no surprise there. Gate revenue is directly related to form because good form generates interest. Bullets are the league champions so it makes sense that they topped the earnings.”
